DollFace
by Stardust Ray
Summary: Sometimes the scars that are unseen run deeper than those that are exposed for the world to see. I lost myself behind my scar, and if not for him I might not have ever come to know myself. Everyone has at least one scar. The only problem is, I can't find his. Full summary can be found within. Also, summary and rating is subject to change with the story's progression. Squall/Rinoa
1. The Girl With The Scar

**Summary:** Alternate Universe. _Rinoa is a girl who, after a car accident years ago, is living with a huge scar on the left side of her face. She has managed to live a normal life with her dog, Angelo, despite the scar's grotesque appearance. One day at work, however, she meets an attractive and yet mysterious young man named Squall whose nonchalant attitude will challenge everything she has come to believe about herself, including the truth behind the acquiring of her scar. _

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_**D.o.l.l.F.a.c.e.**_

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_**Chapter 1 -The Girl with the Scar**_

Smoke engulfed her. Broken and bent up metal enclosed on her. In front of her, there was a constant crackling sound of something like firewood bathing in a steady blaze. The vibrations from the car's engine buzzed faintly beneath her.

"She's still breathing," a stranger's voice echoed in from her left. It was pitch black, or maybe her sight was temporarily lost. A sizzling sound came from all around. She felt something cold resting against the left side of her face, so cold that it burned her face. Somehow, her body protected her from feeling that pain as it was in reality. There was a strange odor in the air, the smell of burning flesh; although, once you smelled such a stench you could never forget it. "Hey, Miss, don't worry! An ambulance is on its way! Someone's coming to help!"

At those words, she collapsed. She assumed back then that it was only a nightmare, having no recollection of where she was at that moment anyway. It would have been better to dream of such a cryptic moment, for in the very next day she would find her life forever changed, forever scarred.

_**Five Years Later…**_

Every day was the same, a perfect routine. The alarm rang at six a.m. and initiated her day. She would wake up, greet her dog, get to the restroom, shower, brush her teeth, comb her hair, get dressed, get a quick breakfast and walk to the public library which was a few blocks down from her apartment building. She lived alone, aside from her companion, Angelo, who made it his duty of guarding the house when she was away. In her tiny one bedroom apartment, though, there wasn't much to guard. If you took a look into her flat, you would quickly notice the lack of mirrors inside. She made mirrors a rarity in her lifestyle. She could barely stand rubbing her own fingers over the left side of her face.

She never wanted to remember what happened or why it happened, but it would always be present there on her face no matter what she did to hide it. She had grown accustomed to living with it, living with the stares that people gave her when they saw her melted skin. She was deformed, obviously, but people just couldn't look away when they saw her face. _No,_ they _liked_ to linger.

The television blared with the local news: Another politician abroad spreading his lies. She had always wished to voice her opinion about certain topics, politics being one of them, but hadn't quite found the strength to speak her mind especially after the accident. Her self-esteem was shot to the core apparently and no matter what difficulties she overcame, everything eventually dissolved down to the center of her weakness.

Her family loved her and cared about her, wanted her to stay with them forever. She loved that they never looked at her as though something was wrong, but then sometimes they treated her as if she was disabled. It was just a scar, a very big scar, but it wasn't going to stop her from living. Despite what anyone might've thought about her, she continued school, graduated, and later got a job as a librarian. In those days, the scar seemed to shrink as long as her mind was focused on her current objectives. With a few helping hands from her family, she was able to move into her own apartment and eventually take care of herself. It would always be Angelo and her, and Angelo would never care what she looked like, scars or whatnot, he still loved her, and that was enough for Rinoa. As time went on however, she fell back into her shell and the scar dominated her face again, even Angelo's love wasn't enough to erase the permanent disfiguration.

By the time she had arrived at work, her façade was at full throttle.

"Rinoa, the cart's upstairs and it's filled with magazines and sci-fi books. If you could restock—"

"Sure," the girl answered with a light smile, "What about the "Newly Returned" box? You want me to bring those books back also?"

"If you could dear, it'd be nice to have a clean slate today," The older woman sighed while sitting at her desktop monitor. She was usually nice, but her exterior made her harder to approach. It's not until Rinoa speaks to her that other people realize she is actually approachable. It was probably her thick, square glasses, really black and seemingly glued to her face that scared them so it seemed. It was because of her glasses that Rinoa felt she should start wearing some just to keep people from noticing her burns right away. It worked, if only for a minute before their questions became distracted, lingering of them even forget what they want to ask once they noticed her scar. Needless to say, the glasses look only lasted for one day.

She was quite used to these reactions, and often found that the best way to get through a single work day was to keep busy with all the jobs none of the other librarians wanted to do, like restocking and reorganizing an entire section; anything that meant avoiding any interaction with guests anyway. It was easy to waste time when it came to all the little tasks, and because of her small task workings, she learned and knew the library's interior like the back of her hand, she could locate any book in a matter of seconds.

The girl had busied herself alphabetizing the science fiction books in her keep before placing them in their designated areas. It was somewhat a delightful waste of time. She stood at the first aisle to start the rest. Tables paved the walkway just steps from the aisles of books.

"Hodgell…" she muttered the author's last name while finding the blank space that it was to fill. When she looked forward between the spaces of the books, she saw a man seated alone with a book wide open. He flipped to the next page, reading intently and peacefully. His hair was dark brown, and a little spiky, and his skin seemed to have been tanned, probably from staying out in the sun, but it look smooth also. His eyes were direct and focused, and his eyebrows were sharp and heavy with anticipation. His lips were thin and pink and silently mouthing out words under his breath from the book in his grasp. From his attire, he seemed to be comfortable wearing a white t-shirt with a black jacket that hung from the back of his chair, but she couldn't see the rest of him since she was standing behind the book shelf and peeping at him from the other side though he could have just been wearing black work pants and boots.

At that moment she had to back away and laugh at herself for staring. Nothing was wrong with looking at an attractive male once in a while, she thought, as long as it wasn't for a long period of time. He was a nice looking guy, she admitted, but he was definitely out of her league. No one could ever get past that scar on her face, and it was better to not get her hopes up at all. Oftentimes she would pretend to not have spotted a hot guy, especially in while the company of others. In her mind the rule was: if she didn't notice him, he wouldn't notice her. It was better to not try at all than to get hurt hoping that someone, who obviously wasn't, was going to walk up to her and say, "Excuse me, Miss. Where are your magazines?"

"!" It was him! He had approached her from behind on the tiny aisle while she was deep in thought about-who cares? Here he was standing behind her now with a legitimate question. _Think! Listen! React! _Unfortunately she was frozen solid. Her body was faced to the cart she had been pulling behind her and it was now beside her. She was barricaded in with no way of escape. She had long since looked away from him as he sat at the table, placing her mind on better things, on more realistic things, and in that short time, he had left the table when he realized an employee was nearby. _Rinoa! Answer him, now!_

"Magazines?" she answered in a hoarse whisper, half on a whim, continuing to look forward. She was too frightened to move too quickly, but then who could have a full conversation without looking at the other person at least for a second.

"Yeah," he said, sounding more like he was agreeing with the thought on her mind than about the magazines.

"They're…right over there," She pointed across the room, glancing back at him quickly, vaguely. He saw the right side of her face, the normal side, the normal smile, and lingered for a second. "You see…on this floor, right over there?"

"Um," he cleared his throat, "Yeah, I see it. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she answered shyly, looking behind at him with a smile. Again, he saw only the right side of her face. He returned her smile with a genuine grin of his own. Realizing he had returned her smile, she paused this time and studied his face. He was really smiling at her, a guy like him smiling at a face like hers. She gasped and faced forward to the books on her cart._ Come on Rinoa, he's just here to read books and he's just like everyone else you talk to on a regular basis! Stop being so nervous and for goodness sakes quit staring like a creep!_

Without further ado, he backed out of the aisle and headed for the area that she had pointed out to him. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought she might pass out. Quickly, Rinoa abandoned her cart of books and dashed to the restroom, thankfully it was empty. She rested her back against the wall beside the door, wanting to know what she had looked like in that moment for him to smile back the way he did. Maybe he was being nice like so many of them pretend to be just for the sake of her job title and the fact that she was placed there for assistance. Maybe he was just being nice because she was nice enough to give him a not so clear direction of the magazine rack.

Why else would he linger and smile? There was no reason to stay in place with a disfigured person such as herself. After all, like so many nice looking men, once you saw them that one time, you never saw them again. He was just a passerby. She would most likely never see him again after today. The girl took a deep breath and pushed her head against the wall behind her. Maybe if she stayed inside the restroom a bit longer, he would disappear. 'Where are the magazines?' It was a simple and silly question. Everybody knows the magazines are never going to be kept near the books, and if the library is a two storied building like this one, it would always be on the second floor and out of sight which is usually where she was, ironically and coincidentally, easiest to find also.

The restroom door opened and a woman emerged bringing in a waft of wind as she entered and headed straight for the first stall. She must've had to urinate really badly. Rinoa's hair was knocked from its neat position being tucked behind her ear, and it fell over the left side of her face. As the woman started her restroom chore, Rinoa walked to the mirror and turned the water on. She always felt awkward relieving herself beside anyone else. She could never go with another person in the room unless there was some type of other noise occurring simultaneously. She wiggled the faucet on and pulled her hands through the cool water, then rubbed them together. Contact with the mirror was avoided at all costs.

When the strands of her hair fell across her left eye again, she was reminded that it had been knocked out of place and she looked up to fix it. The face in the mirror stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a hideous sight. The hunchback of Notre Dame probably felt better about his looks than she did about her own. The scar was horrible. Nobody could ever see past it even if they were forced to or tried. Even when she did try to ignore it, the attempt never persevered. It wasn't like a rash that could heal up and fade away in time. It never faded with time. It would never go away.

There was no miracle cream, nothing to make it fade or wither, or dry up and fall off. There was nothing she could do but accept it and live with it. Suddenly the girl groaned. Enough was enough. She had had enough of bashing herself for one day.

With the strands of her hair falling across her disfigured skin, an idea ran across her mind. Before she knew it, her fingers were sliding through her long slick locks of hair, combing it down over the left side of her face. The more she combed it over, the more it hid some of the scar, but in the end, she looked like a wild untamed animal. That wouldn't do, so she went back to work. This time, she made an even line where it hung over her face, but the rest of it look like it was purposely styled this way. She wore the hair band on her wrist in case she changed her mind about her new hairstyle later. The woman in the other stall finished and emerged from the personal chamber, and marched over to the faucets where Rinoa was standing. The girl immediately eyed the water faucet. She never liked making eye contact with anyone, but for some reason, it felt like the woman was staring at her. Of course she was staring.

Rinoa took a deep breath and looked up to find a smile on the woman's face, just a friendly smile from person to person, a smile similar to his. Great, that settled it. That meant that he was indeed being friendly, nothing more or less. At this, Rinoa decided to smile back.

"You have a very nice smile," the woman said and shook her hands off in the sink before reaching for a napkin from the dispenser to her left and began drying her hands.

"Oh…Th-thank you," Rinoa answered, smiling wider than normal and shyly.

"You're welcome, and have a good day."

"You too ma'am," the girl said, watching the woman through the mirror as she exited and then found her eyes travelling back to her own face. _I have…a nice smile? I…guess I do, right?_

There was a brighter smile reflecting from her and an even brighter glow emanating from her after that and once she returned to work. Rinoa took slow steps toward her cart. _I have a nice smile._ She kept telling herself, getting to the books and forgetting to read the author's names. _Rin, focus,_ she had to tell herself, otherwise she would've forgotten her simple tasks altogether.

By the time she was done restocking those books, it was on to emptying the returned books box at the window. She headed downstairs on her way to the front desk where people usually dropped off borrowed books in a hurry. There she went around to the back of the desk and knelt down to retrieve the first box that needed emptying.

Her head was hidden when she heard the sound of man's voice whispering to her over the counter, "Hi there," he said politely.

Rinoa didn't answer right away, usually when people said things like 'hi,' they were talking to the person standing behind her or around her: they were never talking to her…usually. "Hello" He spoke again, leaning in on the desk as the realization hit home that he had meant to speak to her.

"I don't mean to disturb you, but I saw you from across the room, and thought that you look like a very interesting person to converse with," he smiled, showing all his pearly whites. "So, if you…"

She was cornered, where was she to run to, where was she to hide. She wished the returned box was on the other side, that way her back would've been toward him.

"If you're busy…" He said, but she didn't want him to leave so quickly. She lifted her head from underneath the desk and turned it to the side so that her left side was hidden. "I could…you know," his dirty blond hair bounced as he pulled his head back a bit, "Leave you alone…"

"No…" she grinned. "I'm not busy…"

"What's the matter, Rinoa? Excuse me, sir. I can help you over here. Sorry I wasn't at the desk just now," a fellow coworker announced suddenly, barging in from a quick snack away from her designated area. Rinoa frowned when she realized it wasn't the same guy who had asked her about the magazines, but it was still someone who was interested in her nonetheless. "Are you okay, dear?"

"Yeah," Rinoa answered her quickly, forgetting she was hiding her face as the woman approached her right side. Her hair shifted slightly and exposed some of her scarred skin.

"Sir?" The librarian asked the man whose eyes were disgusted by the huge disfiguration that was present on the young woman's face.

"S-sorry, I just remembered what it was, but thanks anyway," he answered and hurried off out of the doors. Rinoa immediately remembered that she showed the left side of her face by standing and answering her coworker. Instinctively, she raised her hand to cover it.

"What's his problem, rushing off like that? He looked like he had his question all figured out a second ago…" she shrugged and took a seat, "Boy, and I gobbled down a perfectly good bagel for that."

Rinoa smiled, but had sighed sadly inside. She was always good at pretending things were okay, but inside she was crumbling away. She never wanted to obsess about her difference, but the more she tried to focus her mind on other things, the more she was reminded of the huge ugly mess that was on her face.

"Oh, are you emptying the returned bunch?" The spunky woman asked her, and Rinoa nodded her head quickly. "Great, there's a box of movies and other things that have been returned too, and I was supposed to have those upstairs an hour ago, could you…"

"Sure, I got it," The girl answered cheerfully, her façade was at full throttle once more.

"Thanks Rinny, you're a lifesaver."

She could handle any task that was thrown at her from all sides, and as long as it didn't approach her face from the front left side, she would be able to manage. It didn't matter that she had scared some guy away. She was told that her smile was nice and she would continue to believe it. It wasn't like her face could kill anyone; that was unless their heart was unhealthy and she looked at them too fast and literally scared them to death. It was a horrible thought, but one that actually made a true smile appear on her face. What was she smiling about? Not about the death, of course not, but about her wacky mind that had always found a way to make her smile through everything. Even if other people didn't notice, she would always notice herself and be her own very best friend, aside from Angelo, respectfully.

The girl marched to the upmost part of the library she went, but this time near the movie section which would place her next to the magazine section, which she figured the nice guy would still be but thankfully he was nowhere to be found. She sighed in relief, having endured enough expenditure for one day.

There were some classical movies people had been renting it seemed, the kind of movies you could easily grab a blanket on the sofa, and pop some popcorn to. The thought was so tempting. It was then that she decided what she would do that evening when she returned home after work.

It wasn't like she had any place to be, aside from her parents' house as they were her only friends. Their friends were her friends, and she never minded chatting with her mother's friends. She had always been gifted to converse better with older people than younger people or people her age. She got even better at it after the accident. Older people tended to not ask questions about it, but younger people initiated the conversation with a question about the scar. How could she forget what was there if everyone always reminded her it was there? She didn't hate them for asking, but it was irritating having to go back down that road and remember what had happened to her over and over again.

And she was doing it again, obsessing about it, making a mountain of a when nobody had asked her about it, she thought about what the shortest way of explaining it would be. It was ridiculous, but it was her life.

The scar was her life, it was her identity. She would never be the young librarian, but the girl with the scar instead. Nobody would ever look at her and stare at her if she looked normal, but they looked and stared at her because she was different. There was no way to forget. Even when she tried to forget many times before, some people looked outright disgusted by it. Her feelings were shot. She was now in the process of killing all of her emotions. It was better to feel nothing at all, than to keep hoping that she didn't get hurt by anyone. For her to have any ounce of hope was like running over slippery floors with a glass in her hands, destined to fall and break everywhere—her or the glass, whichever was most fragile.

She stared down at the movie cases and released the breath that was held unknowingly, and continued with her work.

Finally when the boxes were emptied, she headed back downstairs near the front desk again. She had a horrible habit of staring down into her hands at whatever was being carried at the moment, and not looking around her, but her ability to navigate without crashing into other people was most noteworthy. It was an uncanny gift, she admitted. The girl continued to the front desk and was about to ask if one of the two present librarians could take the boxes and place them in their correct places, but she was interrupted by her married, spunky coworker, "Rinoa, sorry to trouble you, dear, but could you help this young man find a certain magazine."

The librarian in her mid forties motioned her head from Rinoa to the man standing before her, "Rinoa's all over this place, and she knows every area well. She'll have that magazine located for you in no time."

Rinoa was standing beside him with her right side to face him. Her hair fell over her left eye again and it presented itself as long and silky, a purposed dramatic diva; however, inside she was cringing with fear. She was surprised no one had noticed how much her body trembled.

"Right, Rinoa? You know every aisle and crevice around here," the woman laughed and the girl smiled nervously, nodding her head in hopes that the talkative woman would get off her case. "Oh, what magazine was it again?"

"Well, it's not really a magazine. It's…almost like a battle series."

"Like a comic," Rinoa spoke suddenly, surprising even herself.

"Yeah," he answered, facing the younger woman instantly, and staring, but his staring was more out of a thankfulness of her knowing what he was talking about. He was glad to have somebody understand his terms of language. "It's an old series..."

"We've got a nice collection here," she had read several series as a kid at first, but then grew out of them for a while, but after working at the library, she had become interested in them again. Rinoa turned her face to him slightly, not wanting to appear rude. She kept it at an angle being certain he couldn't see her whole face. "I'll show you."

"Great," he smiled and waited for her to take the lead, which she did, moving quickly and turning around awkwardly so that he had no choice but to stay on her right side. He followed after her to the second floor again, near the magazine section but against the wall where drawers lined it. Rinoa stood at the front of the wall and faced right side of her face gave him the impression that she was completely normal.

"This is it," the girl extended her arm out. "The library didn't want to keep all the paperback magazines and comics out on the shelves because they're easily damaged. Their all categorized into these drawers. Action, Comical, and even Romance are all placed here to find. Now…your battle series,"

"A 1975 classic," he muttered immediately, it must've been a favorite series of his, "Of course, I wasn't really alive when it first came out, but it's the first edition…Sorry!" he hadn't meant to ramble onward. "I had to see if this library has it."

"…1975 classic?" She asked quietly, and then walked over to the drawers to the action section, "the only series I know of that goes back that far is the '_Esthar Chronicles_.'"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm looking for. _Wow_, that's pretty good," he complimented her, folding his arms with a soft chuckle, "Nobody I know ever reads these things or even knows it exists."

"I got back into reading them once I started working here, but I finished a few months back now," she grinned quickly and then returned to her serious librarian face. "I'm glad I did too."

"Good storyline, it's a wonder someone hasn't made it into a film yet," he said, leaning mostly on his right leg, "But then again, films usually mess everything up…"

"Exactly, sometimes it pays to have a vivid imagination because not everything looks pretty on the big screen," she giggled, covering her mouth as she laughed. She was surprised to find that he was laughing right along with her, and then she realized their voices were inappropriate for the library. "Oh, sorry, we have to keep it down."

"Ahh, right," he sighed softly.

Rinoa then cleared her throat and resumed her duty, she opened the drawer with the _Esthar Chronicles_ all lined up together. The series filled up the entire file cabinet's space, all drawers. "So, here you are, hope you find everything you're looking for."

"Thanks to you, I know it's here," the man grinned approaching her at the cabinet and she took a step away quickly. He was too distracted to realize her nervousness.

"Well then, I better…" she fidgeted around quickly and placed her hands on her hips, "yeah, I've gotta get back to work." It wasn't exactly an excuse; after all, she _was_ at work. Furthermore, what else could she say? Rinoa turned to walk away from him, but he stopped her quickly, "Hey, wait…"

She stopped and faced him so that the right side of her face was showing, "Yes, what is it?"

"Thanks again, I was about to give up on this search," he said softly remembering to keep his voice down as well.

"It's no problem," the girl gave him a cordial smile; however, it seemed he had wanted to say more. She lingered in his presence.

He raised his left hand to his hair, scratching his scalp a bit as if he were a little shaky as well, "I don't usually do this, but…" He dropped his hand from his head and faced her completely. "I noticed your smile… I'm not sure if you're seeing anybody— he's a really lucky guy if you are. Anyway, you have a great smile, and I just wanted you to know that."

"Oh…" she mouthed at first, taken aback and completely frozen, completely pale, save for her cheeks blushing deep cherry red. "Th-thank you…"

He smiled again and nodded his head to her. The young man accepted her response as either 'sorry, not interested' or 'taken, but thanks.' He then turned back to the file cabinets and opened the one containing the battle series that had interested him. Rinoa finally worked up the nerve to walk away from her awkward, but flattering compliment. Her heart was still fluttering second upon felt the only way to calm it was to place her hand on her chest and ease it to rest.

She walked across the room trying to remember where she was. Suddenly, trotting feet approached her from behind, and his voice came back to her, "You know…"

Rinoa was surprised and caught off guard, faced him so quickly that she had forgot to turn the _normal_ side to him. And there it was…the hideous thing that was her face. The eternal frown and melting of her skin caked upon her would be attractive for an everyday citizen's face. He stared at her, losing the words he was going to say, forgetting everything once he saw why she had been looking at him with her right side so weirdly all morning long. And he stared for too long, he didn't mean to, but he wondered what had happened to her. He had always only seen her from distances, but never this close before.

She took a deep breath, finally realizing that his earlier compliment had now been recalled. Without further ado, she turned her back to him and continued walking. Her eyes were red with tears. There was no way she could cry at her job, but her tears did not discriminate workplace from home. And streams rushed down from her eyes like a ravishing river, destroying all in its path, all except for the horrible scar that was permanent—a permanent handicap. Quickly, she made her way toward the bathroom to try to stop the emotional rollercoaster she had been riding all day long. She could not take another stare, not today in the least.

Rinoa hid in the restroom for well over twenty minutes, and thankfully no one had gone out to look for her nor had any other ladies come in to use the restroom while she was inside.

Finally, she was ready to reemerge and take her place among the other staff. She headed downstairs first, usually the spunky woman, Mrs. Kramer or much preferred Edea, would have another chore for her to complete. As she approached the desk, sure enough Mrs. Kramer lifted her hand and waved Rinoa to come over, and the girl did so quickly.

"What can I do for you, ma'am?" Rinoa asked sweetly, finally putting her feelings to rest. The older woman smiled and motioned for her to come near.

"Remember that young man you helped out a little while ago," The girl's insides cringed, why would she constantly be reminded of her embarrassment, and most of all, when would it end?

"Yeah," Rinoa answered her with a sigh, not wanting to appear rude.

"Well, he left a message here for you. It's all folded up and I didn't look at it," she grinned. Rinoa was confused, surely she was expecting a few teasing remarks about the attractive man, but for him to actually leave a message, it was highly unexpected.

The girl reached across the counter as Edea lifted the neatly folded paper up, and she grabbed it slowly, frightfully. What could it be? "Thanks," Rinoa said, opening the paper slowly and reading it.

_ Thanks for all your help today. I'd like to know if you've read the spin-off sister series to the Esthar Chronicles. It would really help to get another reader's opinion before I buy it in bulks from the bookstore. Thanks and I hope to hear your opinion the next time I stop by. —Squall. _

Rinoa lowered the paper from her face with a confused expression.

"If I may," Mrs. Kramer asked for the paper, holding out her hand. Rinoa passed it back to her without turning around, still bewildered while the woman read from it quickly.

"Edea," The young woman began, looking to Mrs. Kramer. "I've read everything in that section that there is to read. I know for a fact that there isn't a sister series to the Esthar Chronicles, and I'm pretty sure he would know that too because he seems to be an avid reader of this particular story. …Why would he be interested in buying a series that doesn't exist?"

Edea shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know anything about those comics, but I definitely know one thing. That nice young man, or Squall, is interested in _you_."

"…What?" Rinoa's eyes widened.

_He's interested in me?_

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_**Welcome Back!**_

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First off, I want you to forgive me for starting this in the midst of writing the other two. I want to get these stories out of my hair before I get busy with my classes again. Secondly, this story is pretty much a collaboration of my favorite things. I must say this: I have been writing this story over the last three years of my life and have noticed that there have been the releases of a couple of games and movies with plots that are similar to this story. This is by all means coincidental! I am in no way passing off someone else's work as my own. I am actually pretty proud of my story and now I'm really looking forward to continuing my original writing works. In the meantime, I feel the need to write the last of my fanfictions and get them out of my system so I can continue living my life and have no reason to look back anymore, writing-wise. I loved Final Fantasy VIII, but I want to give the story back to Square Enix unscathed by my wrath, lol. I do not own these characters, nor do I claim to be part of Square-Enix. This story is purely to express my love for the game and hopefully to conclude everything that I have ever started in this fandom. I pledge that by the time I end this story, both FateWild and Eternal Breath will be finished.

Dollface is a progressive romance and action adventure story. I will be writing and uploading my other stories simultaneously as this one. Thanks for the support, everyone. Please let me know what you think. I love writing, but I also love hearing from you all too. Thanks and take care!

Ray


	2. Perfect Stranger

_Author's Note: For the sake of this story, Angelo is a male. I find it funny that in the actual game, only one character specifies Angelo's sex, and that character was (of course) Irvine, with his uncanny ability to find any female anywhere. Still, it could be assumed that Irvine just guessed her sex as people sometimes tend to call an animal a "she" before finding out its true sex. The other characters refer to Angelo like an asexual being. Angelo can pretty much be considered androgynous, unless one does some research into the characters online-which I've forgotten about, but whatever. Angelo in this story is a male. You'll see why in this chapter. Great! _

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_**Chapter 2: Perfect Stranger**_

* * *

When Rinoa returned home that day, Angelo charged to the door to greet her on her way in. He was her companion. Sometimes if Rinoa took him on walks, he was friendly to the strangers who greeted him and complimented his well behavior; however, he was slower to respond to men, often growling at them to keep away from his princess. Her mother had even said that Angelo believed he was her boyfriend because of the jealous fit he would throw when a male approached her, but Rinoa laughed at her assumption and said that he just needed to work on his people skills.

"Hey buddy, did you miss me?" she said, kneeling down and giving him a hearty rub through his soft fur. She then smelled his body odor from where she stood, "Whoa, smells like somebody needs a B. A. T. H.". Somehow oddly enough, he knew what certain words were and often avoided her until she stopped using them, those words were: Bath and Vet. Rinoa could continuously surprise him with these things by simply spelling them out; that is, until he showed signs of outwitting her and learned to spell also.

Angelo licked her cheeks before she could protest. He often licked the left side of her face more than the right. She figured he was biased like that, taking pity on the side of her face that she had spent all her day destroying. The girl sighed within, now that she was home, there was no more talk of looks. In her apartment, her own kingdom, things were blissful and normal. She was completely regular, and everywhere she walked to and fro within her place there was peace.

If there was no peace in her own home, how else would she keep having the strength to go out and try to grasp what little normality the real world offered to her and people like her.

Rinoa rose to her feet and headed to her bedroom that was to her right and across the room behind a door of its own, only to find the dog whining in neglect.

"Angelo, are you hungry? I left food for you today, so you shouldn't be starving you know," she said, tossing her overcoat across the sofa and opening her room door. He followed her inside and jumped on her bed quickly, "No, no, no, you stink right now, get off the bed."

He tilted his head as if having a hard time understanding and she smirked, "Angelo, you _know _what I'm talking about. Don't look at me like that."

Immediately he jumped off and trotted to her, then pressed his paws into her thighs, "What is it?" She reached down and fluffed up the fur at his cheeks with a smile again, "I missed you too. Now would you let me change and get comfortable so I can tend to you all you want? Is that okay?"

The dog immediately lowered from her legs and trotted out the room while Rinoa was finally able to dress into more house suitable clothes. As she did her apartment chores and bathed Angelo, she kept thinking about the long and crazy day at work she had had. Life was full of disappointments and joys, so it seemed. At one point she was ready to just go home, but then, she couldn't wait to see what would happen next. She wondered what he was like, the man who had left his name in that note. _Squall…_ She thought within, wondering why his name was so unusual. It wasn't like her name was common either, but 'squall' was a type of wind, a dangerous one. Why would someone want to name their child after something so dangerous? Well maybe there were peaceful squalls that inspired his parents to name him, assuming his parents were the ones who actually named him.

_Who am I to say anything? I don't know anything about him. Why am I even thinking about him right now anyway? I'm pretty sure I'm the last thing he's thinking about. And even if he was, it's probably something like 'that poor girl with the scar.' I don't need anybody's pity, and I definitely shouldn't get my hopes up about this guy. Either he shows up or he doesn't, and if he doesn't, then it's better that I don't see him again. He probably just didn't want to hurt my feelings by telling me to my face anyway… Let's just stop thinking about it._

Even before she could tell herself to stop thinking about it, there was a cloud brewing in her mind already and it drained her, the longer she continued in thought. She had talked herself out of a compliment. It was better if she hurt her own feelings than if someone else did it, at least she could forgive herself later and she would also never leave.

Angelo, now in the process of being towel dried, barked playfully at her and caused her to lose her reckless train of thought. If for a moment, she was glad to be free of her problems. She spread the towel across his body, only to have him dodge her hands and jump up at her face to lick her cheeks again. The girl could do nothing more but laugh. He would always be her best friend and companion. Nothing would ever change that. Who needed the complication provided by the words of an outsider, a mere stranger?

* * *

Two days later, Rinoa was at work just as usual. Squall hadn't shown up and she concluded that he was just like the rest of the world's men, as expected, and life would go on as usual—without him. She was standing in the adult fiction section dusting the shelves off and musing about her work life. It seemed like people were doing less reading these days. Being a librarian was more like guarding an abandoned warehouse with a dust broom instead of a flashlight. The girl shook her head at the amusing thought and continued her work.

"Excuse me, ma'am," a woman interrupted her, "but where are the restrooms?"

"Just follow that walkway to the back wall," she turned around and pointed to the walkway, "And stay on your left, you'll see the sign for it and it'll guide you from there," she concluded with a friendly smile.

"Thank you," the woman returned her smile and left Rinoa standing in the aisle with the dusty books all around. She was on the first floor in a wide area with book shelves and aisles everywhere. It was possible that if you were on your first visit to this particular library, you might have trouble locating the restrooms. The girl concluded that she was a dust-broom wielding security guard and also the restroom guide, could anything be wackier than this?

Rinoa decided to walk out to the main pathway and head toward the front desk where Edea was sitting, who had occasionally looked into her hand mirror to make sure she appeared customer friendly, unlike her counterpart librarian Selma, who was intimidating and rarely smiled unless the other librarians spoke to her. She was the living incarnated, stereotypical reason people thought librarians were mean. She never seemed to breathe. If you had a question, it was best to ask another visitor, at least when they answered your question, they didn't ridicule you in the same sentence as the answer. When Rinoa had first started working there, she often wondered if the woman had her words set to an automatic condescending tone, as every word from her mouth seemed irrational. The girl shook away the unprofitable thoughts and turned her attention elsewhere.

Suddenly a group of people entered the library at once and _he_ was part of their group. Rinoa immediately backed into the aisle and out of sight. She would not easily be spotted if he were to look around before walking completely inside. After the group dispersed throughout the library, she realized they were not all together, but might have gotten caught at the same traffic light and just came in together after having parked outside. She saw him walk in slowly. His eyes were focusing more on the upstairs area. Rinoa didn't know why, but she smiled, maybe he remembered she was always upstairs and he would most likely find her up there. No, maybe he was just remembering that that was where he could find his reading material.

She watched him walk by the front desk giving Edea an amiable smile and he continued upstairs to his reading venture. Rinoa held her breath tossed herself back into the book aisle just seconds before Edea's eyes could find her. Edea seemed to remember the girl's latest location and had turned around in her seat to search for Rinoa in that area with her eyes. All the while, Rinoa continued to hide out of fear, excitement, and embarrassment, still peeping through the openings between each of the shelves only to find Edea's eyes on the prowl once more.

_Edea, would you stop looking for me?! I know he's here! You're gonna draw attention to me! Quit looking! _The girl averted her eyes away and slammed her back into the bookshelf. Her heart was pounding inside her chest. _Calm down, Rin! Just breathe! He's probably just looking for another series or ready to check out a new source. This is just…a normal thing, and he was glad that you helped him out. So take a deep breath, calm down, and don't get your hopes up too high. _Rinoa finally listened to her inner voice and took a deep breath. After pulling herself together, she finished dusting the area and then decided to keep herself busy with smaller tasks once again. Casually, she approached the front desk only to hear Edea chiming, "Oh Rinny!"

Inside, Rinoa already knew what this was about. Edea smiled radiantly, in her fitting short business casual dress. She had the figure of a twenty year old, even in her forties. Her long coal black hair was always kept neatly in a sophisticated bun that rested at the at the rear angle of her head, hanging just above her left shoulder. She usually decorated her hair with a flower comb above her right ear and matching earrings. Rinoa admired Edea's taste in fashion. There wasn't a day that had gone by that the older woman hadn't dressed to impress. She was certain that her husband was one lucky man, as the woman still seemed to be in love with him for as long as they'd known one another. She wondered if she would ever find someone to share her life with. Regardless, Rinoa made her way over to the front counter where Edea awaited.

"Your friend just came in about two minutes ago." _Two minutes_, Rinoa thought disappointedly. Surely she was dusting forever. Maybe everything went faster in her mind because she was treading a thin line between fantasy and her reality. "He's upstairs, and you never know, he probably needs some help looking for that non-existent series," the little woman winked.

"Edea," Rinoa sighed embarrassingly, "he's probably forgotten all about that by now. I mean, it _has _been a few days, you know?"

"You don't know for sure and it's been _two_ days," Edea protested, "I can spot a nice young man from a mile away, even just having met him once. Sometimes, all it takes is one good impression. And believe me, if I felt like he was a bit shifty, I would've never given you the note that he left for you."

Rinoa hadn't thought about all that. She knew Edea never meant her any harm and would be more than accommodating when it came to her feelings on a personal issue. Surely Edea had a keen insight into this guy's motives. It now seemed like a slight possibility that maybe she was either being too hard on herself or too hard on him.

"And Rinny," Edea continued, "how much do you want to bet that that note he left was just a way for him to get to talk to you?"

Rinoa faced the upstairs area and took a deep breath, "Edea, I just…" the girl's voice trailed off. She really needed to be honest. Things, when it came down to men, had never actually happened in her favor before, "I don't want to get my hopes up about this guy, so please..."

"Come here Rinoa," Mrs. Kramer motioned her hand to come in near as she always whenever there was some private content needing discussing between the two, "…If you keep beating yourself up, you're never going to be able to live happily."

"But…but I am happy," she lied. Sure, she was living comfortably, but everyday she found herself going home to a dog…and solitude.

"Trust me, you need this darling," the glowing, married woman smiled. "…Even if he's just a friend, what would be the harm in that?"

The girl backed away from her slowly and clasped her hands together, "Yeah," she muttered, "I hope you're right."

"Here's another box of returned movies," Edea grinned, reaching on the floor for the box and lifting them up on the desk. The younger brunette moved quickly to retrieve the box as the woman chuckled, "I can't send you up there empty handed, you know."

Rinoa grinned and nodded her head. She then turned around and headed upstairs to the movie area to restock all the newly returned items. Just as she reached down for the last movie, she felt as though someone was approaching her. When the feeling lingered, she knew without a doubt he was nearby.

The girl gripped the movie in her hand and faced him, this time not caring what side of her face she showed. He might as well see all of her, she thought, maybe then he would leave sooner so everyone could move on to other things. However, she was surprised to find that he was smiling, thin lips curved into a smile, innocently, sweetly. He then lifted his right hand shyly, as if to wave but lowering it in case she hadn't recognized him.

"H-hi," she responded softly to his gesture. Then acting quickly and nervously, she returned her eyes to the shelf before her only to have the movie in her hold slip from her grasp and drop to the floor. The brunet went down for it first and quickly, grabbing the box up and rising abruptly.

He stood tall with an opened grin, or a soft chortle, and also held the movie in his grip.

"Here you go," he said while handing it back to her, and she took it slowly and muttered her thanks. Rinoa found its place and shelved it next to the others. "Um," he started again, "I don't know if you, if you got that note I left the other day..." As he spoke, Rinoa noticed that his grin disappeared. He seemed a bit nervous, probably as nervous as she was. It made her relax slightly.

"Yeah," the girl turned to him immediately, "Edea, the librarian you left it with, she gave it to me."

"Great," his grin returned along with a sigh of relief, "I wanted to come back sooner, but I needed to go out of town for a couple of days. Uh…about the other day that I was here, I hope I didn't…I hope I didn't upset you— not that you would remember that or probably even care," he placed his hands inside the pockets of his jacket and cleared his throat while looking at the floor, trying not to stumble over his words. Rinoa smiled, why was he so nervous? It was almost as if he wasn't used to this sort of thing, a guy like him? _No way…_

"No, it's alright. Thank you," she answered briefly. "Oh, and about that letter… You _do_ know that there is no such thing as a spin-off to the _Esthar Chronicles_, right?"

He laughed immediately, and returned his eyes to hers, "Actually, I know that. I just didn't know what else to say."

"Why would you—" Rinoa's right eyebrow lifted at him curiously, astonished.

"In case she read the letter…," his eyes motioned downstairs, indicating Edea. Rinoa immediately understood his point. It would have looked inappropriate if he said what he really wanted to say, but then, what was it that he really wanted to say to her. "…Rinoa, right?"

"Yeah, that's my name," she grinned, she hadn't come out and told him, but she did remember Edea saying her name several times around him. He had remembered her name after all that time? And it sounded so natural coming from him too.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable the other day. I didn't mean to stare."

Rinoa sighed and shifted her view to the floor. _An apology..?_ Was that all he had wanted to say to her? "It's alright," she answered and aligned her eyes with his again. _Yeah, maybe that's all he wanted… _"I'm…I'm just..."

"No, you don't have to explain. I was out of line to stare like that," he took his hands out of his pockets and lowered them slowly, then brought his left hand to his hair, "A-anyway… This is going to sound a little crazy, but…I've actually wanted to talk to you for a while. I just couldn't work up the nerve."

"What?" She was surprised, a tiny grin appearing. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but I've been coming here for the last three months," he finally lowered his hand and continued. "Part of it was because I was reading up on old comics and biographies, and the other reason was because I…I wanted to meet you. I don't want to freak you out or anything," he held his hands out defensively momentarily, "but I've always known where the magazines are. It was my excuse…"

His eyes were fixated on hers, open and earnest, eyebrows relaxed from their usual slanted and serious ways. He anticipated her response, but _who _was she to respond to something like that? Why would he go through all that trouble?

"Like I said," he took a breath and forced himself to continue spilling his guts to her, "You have a great smile, and I've been hooked since the first time I saw you. I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner sometime, or I mean…give you a call first…?"

Was it some type of sick joke? Maybe even a nightmare. Surely Angelo was going to jump on her bed and wake her up. It couldn't be happening. No one had ever sincerely asked for her company in this manner. Was it out of pity? Maybe he mistook her quietness as a foolish flaw of some self loathing easy girl. Never again would she be taken for a fool. Even so, he didn't seem like the type who would resort to such a thing. The girl became a victim of an ongoing debate occurring within. Her mind began its torrent of delusional, situational episodes. Before Rinoa knew it, her panic had manifested into spoken words.

"If…if you're just…" she started, her eyes slanted as that familiar nudge welded up in her heart, "If you're one of those sick guys who's just trying to take advantage of me, then please leave right now or I will scream."

"Wait, what?" The young man paused, completely lost by her response. Somehow, however, he had sensed the hurting and bitterness in her voice. Someone had obviously wounded her before. Whatever it was that happened to her, it was not at all what he had intended to inflict upon her. "_Please_ don't get the wrong idea, that's not who I am at all."

His back immediately straightened, eyes assuming a stern approach. When he spoke this time, his voice was no longer shaky, but was direct, honest and sincere, "I resent people like that, and I would never take advantage of anyone. Most of all, I would _never _hurt you." The brunet closed by taking a step back away from her ,giving her the freedom to walk away.

Rinoa released her breath and stared down at the floor. She had to admit that he was certainly more confident than any other lowlife scum she had ever come across. His voice and his eyes were so believable. If he really was a scum bag, he would've given up by now. _Even if he's just a friend, what would be the harm in that?_ Edea's words had returned to her.

"Listen, if you don't want me to talk to you, then I could leave you alone. If you don't ever want to see me again—"

"No… I'm sorry," she tried to smile and brought her eyes up to his, apologetically, "I'm really sorry! Clearly I…I'm not the best conversationalist, I'll admit that," she whispered, glad to see that he had softened his eyes upon her apology. "…Squall, isn't it?" The girl inquired.

"Yeah," he nodded his head and took a deep breath as well, unsure of what to expect next.

Rinoa held out her hand finally and he studied it first, looking down at her hand and then lifting his to return her gesture. He reached slowly, grabbing her hand with a firm and gentle grip. Both of their hearts relaxed considerably the moment their hands touched. He stared into her soft brown eyes while shaking hands with her lightly.

Realizing they were staring at one another in mere silence for almost an entire minute, the young woman cleared her throat as per distraction. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rinoa Heartilly," she said, finally.

"Squall Leonhart," he spoke at last, softly releasing her hand, "it's a pleasure."

* * *

_**Hi!**_

* * *

Hello again! I must go through and correct the first chapter! It's the weirdest thing…it's like a typo bullfrog just comes out of nowhere and starts snatching my words from the screen. When I look at my document on _my_ screen, it looks fine, but then I come here to glance over the chapter, I'll notice all the typos! Gosh, I need typo goggles! lol So here we are. I have nothing to say, actually. I'm having fun writing, and I know my stories tend to start off a little slow, I'm going to do something differently with this one, though. I believe there are two more chapters I'll update within this week for this particular story, as well as for the other stories I'm working on now, and then there was something in the plot I needed to fix too. It's just one thing after the other again! Sorry guys about the typos. Sometimes they're funny, but then excessive typos tend to take away from the story. I didn't realize how tired I was when I was going over it for myself, and sometimes I tend to write words-saying some aloud, and neglecting to write those said words down or type it in, if you know what I mean. I editted and rearranged some areas, but failed to delete and backspace properly...so goofy. This is my horrible habit, and it's embarrassing as well. Please excuse my typos, but know that I'll get back to cleaning it up soon.

I'm such a rambler!

Alright, stay tuned for the next chapter: "First Date"…You'll notice that this story and Fate,Wild are probably the closest to writing fluff that I'll ever get; though I should warn you that the genre will be changing in the near future chapters. Thanks for reading and alerting! As usual, let me know what you think, okay? Please and thanks! lol

Take care,

StardustRay~


	3. First Date

_Author's Notes: Welcome back, everyone. Please read and review. Thanks. _

* * *

_**Chapter 3: First Date**_

* * *

_It just goes to show that you never know who's watching you until something major happens. Suddenly, I meet a guy who is so wonderful and he's so interested in me. I don't know what he sees in me, though. We talk occasionally and he stops in at the library once in a while. This has been going on for a few weeks now. Edea was certainly right about one thing, he seems to really like me as a friend. I shouldn't ask for too much. I shouldn't expect anything major either._

"_So, what are you doing this weekend?"_ His voice emerged from the earpiece of the cordless phone that pressed onto her ear. It was a lazy Thursday evening after work, save for her spending quality time on the phone with Squall. She lounged on her soft, tan sofa with Angelo resting his head on her comfy, pajama covered lap. It was easy for the two to sit back on this particular evening, because Rinoa had created a relaxing atmosphere of dimly lit candlelight in her peach tinted living room. The variously placed apple cinnamon scented candles filled the room with the pleasant aroma that she and Angelo adored. If nothing else, this was sometimes how she'd spend her weekends with Angelo. Other times, a typical weekend usually consisted of endless games with Angelo or visiting her parents' home which was just a short drive across town in the next district.

However, for this particular weekend she had nothing planned. She would be completely free.

"Nothing really," a shrug accompanied the girl's answer, knowing he couldn't see her, "I'm probably just gonna feel the day out, whatever goes, you know?"

"_You like sports?" _Squall asked suddenly.

"Nothing bloody, but yeah, some sports are fun to watch."

"_Sports without blood…? That's like trying to make pasta without water. It just doesn't happen," _she found herself laughing at his analogy.

"Well, I don't like hardcore wrestling or kickboxing. Those are the kind of bloody sports I'm talking about."

"_Oh, well yeah, I can understand that. My dad isn't a big fan of those either."_

"I bet _you_ are," Rinoa teased, giggled softly.

"_Yeah, I'm guilty of that. I mean, they're not all that bad, I guess. Anyway, I was gonna pick up some tickets to the basketball game coming up, you wanna go?"_

"Basketball game…?" She took a deep and shaky breath in which he heard in detail. Basketball games or any other well known sport meant lots of crowds. Lots of crowds meant lots of people, and also lots of stares. She wasn't sure about his choice of a weekend getaway.

"_We don't have to,"_ Squall tried to clarify. "_It's just a thought. I mean, if you want to try something else, then we could do that."_

"Have you been to one recently, a basketball game, I mean?"

"_Sure, plenty of 'em. Sometimes my friends and I, we really get into it— even paint our faces."_

"Sounds like fun," she smiled.

"_It is, actually," _he was glad to hear the relaxation returning in her voice, "E_specially because people really don't recognize you if you're all dressed up in a team's colors. But like I said, we don't have to go there, it's just a thought."_

"Maybe another time then, okay?" Rinoa looked down at Angelo, who had upturned his gaze toward her as if she'd been talking to him all along.

"_Oh yeah?"_ he asked quickly, _"Seriously?"_

"Why?" Rinoa laughed into the phone, feeling as though she'd been thrust into some sort of trick question. "Please don't hold me to that."

"_Because I want to see what you'd look like all dressed up in my team's colors and face painted..."_

"Probably like a clown," the brunette blurted out, causing him to chuckle as well.

Squall cleared his throat _"Well you wouldn't be alone, that's for sure, and people tend to go wild when they see diehard fans like that. I promise you won't regret it."_

"If you say so," she took a deep breath. "It sounds like fun, but let's go see a movie or something this weekend."

"_Done,"_ he answered eagerly. His ultimate mission was to get her out of the house with no protest. Squall had been tortured for the last couple of weeks with being limited to brief library visits and phone calls only when it came to his contact with her. Now was the time to spend quality time with her face to face whether she was ready for it or not, respectfully speaking of course.

When the weekend finally arrived, they had decided they would view a matinee and then have dinner at a nearby restaurant afterwards. They both agreed that a nice laid back restaurant might provide them a setting for intimate conversation at the most; however, Rinoa had her doubts all along...

"What have you done? Why did you agree to this?" the girl whispered. "Why do you put me through this? …I hate you."

She stared distraughtly into the mirror of her bathroom, completely loathing the person being displayed before forcing herself to move about her living space.

Rinoa agreed that it was a nice plan, but her wardrobe was not at its best today, even her hair decided to rebel like some old tale of a city's struggle for liberation from its government.

She paced around her tiny apartment frantically looking for loosed and miscellaneous items that most likely were irrelevant to her getting ready for her date tonight.

It was a nice, starter flat that included one bedroom, washroom, and bathroom. It was equipped with the necessary diehard appliances for one living alone such as the refrigerator, washer and dryer. When entering through the front door, one would immediately notice the widescreen television across from a dainty tan sofa that was beside the front door, both were gifts from her parents. To the left of the living room was the kitchen where Rinoa prided herself in the island that stood in its center. She had two stools placed against the island that also dueled as her kitchen table since it was only herself living there. It gave her the impression that the kitchen was larger than it actually was. Thankfully, with medium height ceilings, the illusion seemed to work most of the time.

To the very back of her apartment was the washroom where her growing laundry awaited, though she was good about keeping her clothes clean, neat and orderly. If not, she would go crazy about being out of order and having nothing but dirty clothes lying about.

The only thing Rinoa had a problem with about her apartment was the location of her bathroom, which could be found inside her bedroom that was to the right of the living room divided by a simple door. If ever Rinoa had company, which was a rarity, they would need to pass through her bedroom to find the bathroom that would be located to the person's left the moment upon entering her room. Beyond that, she had no complaints and gladly considered her private home a piece of heaven.

It was only heaven until the ways of the world imposed itself upon her peaceful utopia. There was simply no way she could possibly get ready in time. The girl had already gone through five pairs of jeans, two sweaters because of the chill in the air outdoors, and some boots. On top of that, she couldn't ease her nerves enough to get ready properly and stared at the clock for ten minutes at a time knowing that her time was running out.

It took her ages to finally settle on a nice violet sweater and dark jeans with her black boots that were hidden beneath the pants legs. The house phone rang abruptly and Angelo naturally, with a healthy bark, announced that it did so. She jogged from her bathroom to the cordless phone that was left on her sofa in the living room.

"Hello?" The young woman answered, half out of breath, and half in fear.

"_Hey Rinoa," _Squall's voice flowed in through the ear piece. "_Were you jogging or running…?"_

"Um…Yeah. I was trying to… trying to catch the phone," she admitted embarrassingly with a fading voice.

"_Don't hurt yourself," _he laughed shortly, but then continued._ "Well, just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way over. Since you live pretty close to the library, I should be okay in getting there. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes, alright?"_

"Oh, okay," she answered.

"_Alright, I'll see you in a bit."_

"Yeah, I'll be _waiting,_" She chimed excitedly, though in the same second an awkward, uncertain smirk appeared across her mouth. She had surprised herself at her own exaggerated response.

When they terminated the lines, Rinoa heaved an exasperated sigh. "This is _crazy!_ Why am _I _going out—on a _DATE _for that matter? Who am I kidding?! This will _never _work!" she flung herself drastically to the sofa and landed on her stomach, noticing that she had locked with a seated Angelo.

He got up from his place on the brown, carpeted floor and took gently placed steps toward her. When he reached her, the dog sat on his bottom where he was face to face with the dramatic woman. He inched his face closer to hers and licked the ball end of her nose with a neat tongue. Rinoa immediately smiled.

"Thanks, Angelo," the girl retorted sweetly to which the dog's eyes lit up; however Rinoa continued, "but I haven't forgotten about you, we'll take our walk tomorrow," she said, only to witness the dog release a disappointed sigh. He then crashed his body onto the floor dramatically. The girl laughed at his hopeless behavior, though he reminded her of her own tantrums. She had then opted to use the fifteen minutes wisely, or whatever was left of it by now.

She rose from her place on the sofa and carried the cordless phone with her while leaving him on the living room. Rinoa then walked through the opened door to her bedroom and headed into her bathroom. The one and only mirror in her apartment was the first thing to capture her eyes. Staring into the reflective pane at her two dimensional twin, it seemed that the insecurities were obvious. Her clothes didn't fit comfortably. They felt and looked baggy, fitting loosely upon her figure and were even a bit damp from the frantic nerves that had caused her to sweat visibly everywhere. The scar probably terrified the mirror, no doubt.

"…No." Finally, Rinoa had had enough. She shook her head and placed the phone down onto the marble counter of her bathroom sink. "…I have to stop putting myself down like this. I deserve to have fun too, right? That's what Edea said. Just breathe, Rin… You look fine."

Rinoa took a deep breath and smiled. Her face wasn't so bad after all. Maybe applying a few touchups to her eyes would help bring out the rest of her face more, especially her eyes. The girl went to work immediately, digging through her dusty and abandoned make up kit at the back of the counter and grabbing hold of some eye coloring products. She did her best with the outdated kit and applied as she saw fit, though not too much.

The moment she finished her touch-ups, the phone rang. This time, Rinoa was ready for it. "Hello?" She answered strongly, confidently.

"_It's Squall. I'm here, but I'm not sure if I'm in the right parking area."_

At his words, Rinoa immediately abandoned her position at the mirror and trotted through her room to reach the living room windows that were located just behind the sofa. Using the sofa as a knee rest, she leaned onto it to look outside.

"_If you see a silver car with a deranged driver, you're looking at me."_

Sure enough, she spotted a car driving up the one way in the parking lot below. She was indeed staring at his car and saw him braking and backing up, then moving forward. "Yep, that's you," The girl laughed. "Get out of the one way before you get ticketed!"

Squall braked the car immediately with a sharp squeak, reaching his left arm out of the driver's window and waving it a couple times, and then proceeded to remain in the middle of the road. The parking lot was moderately crowded, and luckily no one else seemed to be in a rush to leave the facility.

Rinoa took the moment to study his car. It was a metallic sports car model, a model she was not familiar with. Its design appeared foreign, striking and beautiful especially to her untrained eye with neon symbols, and designs crafted at probably both of its sides.

"You should park soon. The parking patrol actually patrols…," Rinoa said, backing away from the sofa and leaving the window.

"_Sorry, I'm not used to this place,"_ Rinoa knew he was grinning even without having seen his face. _"Besides I don't even see any cops around here."_

"Trust me, they're here. I think they make a living on parking tickets alone."

"_Well, I don't want to help pay their expenses, so I'm just gonna park it here,"_ Squall said quickly, multitasking, obviously parking whilst scoping for cops, and speaking to her at once. _"Alright then," _his voice returned when he was parked_. "I'll be out here waiting."_

"Hey Squall," she said suddenly.

"_..Hm?"_

"Why don't you come up for a second? There's someone I want you to meet," she smiled and glanced at Angelo, who lifted his head from the floor curiously. "I'm on the second floor, room 230."

"_Should I be afraid…?"_

"No, _of course_ not!" she laughed, "Why would you think that? Not unless you have some type of animal allergy," Rinoa shrugged her shoulders.

"_Not that I know of," _he answered, getting out of his car and locking the doors with a button from his key ring.

"Well then, come on up. We'll be waiting."

"_Okay, I'm on my way up,"_ he said, and then terminated the lines from his cell phone.

Her apartment complex reminded him of a very large outdoor dormitory, composed of uniformed red bricks and alternating door colors. The stone stairs, protected by a black railing which lined all the floors and walkways also, were steep in the climb, but wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He had prided himself on being in shape and was healthy enough to run up the first flight with no problem. Of course, the second flight was a bit tricky near its top. It ended on an odd number and threw off his balance for a moment. Thankfully, he regained his balance at the top otherwise it would've been a painful fall down.

When Squall finally reached her door, her blue door with the silvery numbers 230 posted above the door seal. The young man knocked gently and waited for a few seconds for Rinoa to answer the door.

She answered it with a burst of energy and a genuine smile.

"Hey," Squall waved to her shyly, standing in his casual attire; a sporadic logo imprinted white t-shirt over dark denim and black boots. His hair was just as unruly as the day she had met him, retaining that sharpness that she adored. His eyes were breathtakingly gorgeous, steel blue framed in excitement.

"Hi," she responded softly with a sudden feeling of insecurity falling upon her.

"You look great," he said with a reassuring smile, leaning in and kissing her right cheek. She was surprised at his motion.

_Really…? _Her eyes immediately widened. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," the boy answered, and then moved his eyes around her little apartment, "So where's…"

Angelo barked once he realized Rinoa had company at the door way. She backed up and allowed Squall to enter, and he walked in slowly looking down at Angelo, who sniffed around him first and then allowed the young man to touch his fur.

"This is Angelo, my long time buddy," she announced quickly as she closed the door behind him and then motioned her hand toward her pet companion.

"He looks excited," Squall smiled, rubbing Angelo's ears and under his neck.

"Always is. He keeps me sane when he's not driving me crazy," she laughed, and Squall looked up at her, grinning as well.

"How long have you had him?"

"For about three or four years now… Hasn't been too long, I guess." She folded her arms and watched Squall continuing to spoil him. "When I moved out of my parents' place, he moved in with me. They didn't mind if I kept him."

"It's good to have a pet when you're living alone, especially a dog. I think I scare cats easily."

Rinoa giggled and folded her arms behind her back wondering why that was so. She decided not to pursue the answer and opted to keep the conversation pertaining to dogs.

"Do you have one, a dog?" She asked curiously.

"No, I wanted one though," answered the young man. By this time, Rinoa noticed that Angelo had completely surrendered himself to Squall and was now on rolling over on his back. _Look at that pushover…_

"Well why not?" The girl maintained her thoughts and conversation with him.

"Probably because I don't have the time to raise it…I mean, they're so high maintenance these days."

"That's just an excuse," Rinoa laughed as he shrugged his shoulders and rose to his feet leaving Angelo sprawled out on the floor, legs in all different time zones and hemispheres. "I work full time, but it doesn't stop me from having time to be with Angelo."

"Yeah, well, my job requires long hours," Squall explained, "and sometimes I'll have to go out of town for days at a time."

"Oh, that's right," her eyes fell to the floor at Angelo who seemed to be waiting for Squall to give him an encore belly rub. "What exactly is it that you do again?"

"I'm a railroad engineer. I, basically, make sure everything's up and running properly, and occasionally do field testing all across Galbadia."

"I remember hearing you say you were an engineer, but I don't think you specified it last time," Rinoa smiled. "Sorry, if I'm making you repeat yourself."

"No, it's fine. I apologize if I didn't disclose it directly, but that's what I do… It's not really that interesting to be honest," he gestured his hand up momentarily and then allowed it to drop to his side. Angelo finally put an end to the waiting and rolled back over on his stomach with a sigh. Squall rested his left hand on his waist, watching as Rinoa faced him again.

"It's not really interesting?" She inquired, her head tilting to the side, "then why do you do it?"

"No, I love what I do for a living," he gestured his right hand upward. "It's just that people find it boring when I talk about it, so…"

"I understand," Rinoa nodded, "But I mean, come on, I organize books for a living… I'm pretty certain I wouldn't get bored."

"If you insist," he smiled, waving his hand in the air and letting it drop. "Oh, but we should really get going. The movie's going to start in about thirty minutes, and it's a little ways out of town."

"Alright," she said, walking quickly to the loveseat to retrieve her jacket that hung across its top. She was already wearing a sweater, but she brought the jacket along just in case she caught a little chill. Squall took notice of this, but kept quiet.

"Rinoa, is it okay if I use your sink to wash my hands?"

"Sure, feel free to use the kitchen sink. Please excuse the mess," she said, leading the way into her kitchen and moving her unwashed coffee mug to the opposite side of the sink to create a clean space for him. Keeping his eyes only on his target location, he followed her around the island and washed his hands quickly beneath the running water.

After a little, they were finally ready to leave. He followed her outside.

"Bye Angelo," Rinoa chimed as she closed the door and locked it behind them.

Squall smiled, he could tell that she loved her dog more than anything. "Will he be okay in there alone?"

"Yeah, he's probably going to nap the entire day, and then sleep when I get back later."

The brunet laughed and turned to her. "Let me take your jacket," he said, holding out his hand while Rinoa stumbled to lift it properly, she was taken aback by his notion.

"Thanks," she responded as he took the garment to hold beneath his arm. Squall waved his hand in response as if to say 'no problem.'

Even when they reached his car, she was surprised when he opened the door for her too. It wasn't that she couldn't open it herself, but not many people had ever offered to open or hold the door for her, they didn't even know she was there. When they did notice her, they pretended that she wasn't there, blotting out the imperfection in their virtually perfect world. She liked that he was chivalrous, but it would have to take some getting used to.

It was funny though, riding with him, she completely forgot that because he was driving, he would be at her left side for the entire ride there; however, even as they rode together in the car, he maintained a worthwhile conversation with her. He hadn't even stared inappropriately at her face. It was as if he didn't see the scar anymore. Could it be possible or was he trying too hard to keep his mind off of it?

"So like I said, it's not very interesting," Squall laughed, pulling into the theater's parking lot finally.

"No, really, it's not at all boring. Who told you that?" She asked him, gathering her jacket and purse.

"My friends," he said, opening his door, stepping out and closing it behind. Rinoa opened hers and got out too, and he locked the car.

"Oh, well, yeah. That _is _bad," Rinoa snickered.

"See?" Squall grinned while shaking his head and walked at her left, side by side with her to the theater building.

It was an action film, at least when seeing an action movie, even if the lines were horrible, the graphics and special effects usually never let anyone down. The sound was amazing. It was a wonder they hadn't gone deaf just sitting there in the theater. In their seats, chewing on popcorn, Squall was at her right this time on her request, and he abided realizing she might've felt more comfortable for some personal reasons if he stayed at her right.

At first, she focused only on the movie, and it was great. In the darkness, who could see her face, her disfiguration? She blocked out everyone and focused only on the movie screen. It was only a matter of time before she felt a pair of eyes on her, locked in an endless, curious stare. To her left was a little boy who seemed more interested in her face than the movie. If he had been an adult, she could just tell him to mind his own business, but he was only a child; even so, children had their moments of cruelty too. Rinoa chewed her popcorn slowly and looked over at the little boy finally. They eyes connected for a few seconds until she smiled peacefully, and finally the child smiled too.

Then he faced forward to the movie screen and continued to watch the compelling action film. She then felt Squall reaching for her hand where he grabbed it and squeezed gently after noticing how she had, unknowingly, lowered it from her face and gripped her pants' leg uncomfortably. When Rinoa brought her eyes to his hand atop hers, Squall glanced at her with a whisper, "Are you alright?" The light from the movie screen colored his face in different shades as the scenes changed and progressed. She still saw the brightness even in the dark.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered back, knowing even if they used their normal voices, people probably wouldn't have noticed. It was then when Rinoa looked down at their joined hands again, her heart began beating quickly. Suddenly, she had the desire to put away the popcorn and lay her head on his chest, but it would probably be inappropriate she thought.

However, the longer she stared at their hands, the more she realized Squall wouldn't mind.

Rinoa rose up slowly and lowered her popcorn to the floor. She then sat back and leaned her head gently on his shoulder only to feel him moving in closely to her as well. She was surprised to find her head resting on his chest. He welcomed her there easily as if he had been awaiting her closeness all movie long. His chest was hard, though it was still comfortable. She felt his heartbeat, his quick and yet relaxed heartbeat. Even being without a jacket his body was warm. She felt snuggly like they were watching the movie from her sofa at home.

They remained that way throughout the rest of the movie, even when it ended and the credits rolled up, and everyone else left. It wasn't until an employee appeared at the bottom of the theater room with a broom and dustpan that they realized their time was up. Rinoa giggled sheepishly and rose from her seat first. She readjusted her sweater and tucked her jacket inside her elbow's inner hold. Squall reached for her purse on the floor and handed it to her as he stood up too, and then stretched out his arm muscles above his head.

"That was pretty good," he said, lowering his arms with a yawn.

"Yeah, but now you're sleepy," she grinned.

"I'll be alright," he shrugged, and then ushered for her to take the initiative of exiting from their row and walking down the stairs out of the theater room. "So, where do you want to eat?"

"Doesn't have to be anywhere fancy, I mean, since the popcorn's cut my appetite and all," Rinoa answered truthfully and with a smile, walking down the wide steps slowly. When they were at the very bottom, they nodded to the employee and took the path that would lead them out of the room completely. Outside in the spacious walkway, Squall reached for her hand and grabbed it gently, causing her smile to widen and her cheeks reddened. "Wherever you want to go would be fine."

"Wanna get pizza and pasta?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Rinoa snickered first, and then answered. "Now _that's_ a dangerous combination," he laughed at her response as she continued, "But sure, that sounds great."

"Okay then, out we go," and with his words, they were off again. Not so far away from the theater was a casual restaurant serving up pizza and pasta at fair prices with great quality. They ordered one pepperoni pizza, but she settled for soup while he went the whole nine yards. "I can't believe you chickened out on me," he teased her from across the round table.

"It looks good, but I don't think I can eat all that tonight."

"Your soup is just as filling, you know."

"But it doesn't _look_ like it, which is a very big difference."

"Why does it matter what it looks like anyway? It's all going to the same place and you're still gonna be full."

Rinoa smirked and blew cool air over her hot tomato soup, "It matters to _me_ where it's going and trust me; between men and women, food does _not_ go to the same place."

"It's not like you have a bad figure," he muttered first, part of which Rinoa heard a bit of and blushed feverishly. Squall hadn't noticed, instead he looked down at his pasta and then frowned, deciding to continue pestering her. "Come on, Rinoa! I won't leave you alone until you try this," he said, picking up his unused salad fork and twirling it around to grab at the spaghetti. She waved her hand saying no as she sipped at her soup slowly, but he insisted, and landed the forkful of pasta on her saucer anyway. "Whenever _you're _ready, _it's_ ready."

She couldn't help but to laugh at his methods of sharing. Because of his persistence, she took the fork into her hands and had a bite of the pasta. Lo and behold, it was actually really good, and she thought twice about getting her plain old tomato soup. Squall shared more of his pasta and Rinoa had then eaten a combination of pizza, pasta, and soup; all which was more than she bargained for. In the end, she had had a great time with him there and ultimately spending the rest of her time talking to him about random events occurring at the library.

Later during the drive home, they were silent and in thought about the course of their day together. Her hand was entangled with his as he paused in between working the stick shift and driving up the straight road. She stared out of the window at the road and scenery covered in nightfall.

Squall looked over at her quietly, studying her, wanting to know what was on her mind. Was she comfortable? Did she have fun? He brought his eyes back to the road. What had happened to her to make her look the way she did now? He knew it was a sensitive topic for her, and she would probably never tell him if he asked. He knew that whenever she was ready for him to know, then she would tell him on her own time, and he would respect her privacy in the meantime. If it meant that he would wait forever to know, then he would wait patiently. Although curious about her past, he knew it would not change the way she looked now or why she looked that way. The most important thing for him was that he liked her as a person. He wanted to know about her aside from the scar. He wanted to help her see past it too.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked her suddenly, glancing at her quickly and then looking at the road ahead.

"Gonna take Angelo out for a day, why?" she finally retracted her eyes from the window and looked over at him. When he glanced at her this time, he saw two dimensions on her face, like two different people. One was outspoken and fun and the other was miserable. He wanted to find a way for her to be completely happy.

"Mind if I tagged along?"

"If you want to come with us, Squall, sure. I don't see what the problem would be," she smiled as he gently squeezed her fingers within his grasp.

When they finally reached her apartment complex, Squall parked inside the gated community and walked her up to her door. Outside, Rinoa stopped just before reaching for her keys. She looked down at the pavement first with a soft breath. This time the night lights were own and the crickets sounded far away. There was a different feel to the scenery now.

"Well this it then," Rinoa spoke softly as her eyes found his again.

"Yeah, did you have a good time?"

"Definitely," she smiled a smile that would be forever etched into his memory. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Same here," Squall rattled the keys in his left hand, fidgeting around a bit. "So, what time should I be here?"

"We usually leave around ten in the morning, but if you want, you can stop by nine thirtyish. We could leave around that time."

"Okay, that works," he copied Rinoa's smile. "Then I'll see you tomorrow…"

"Yeah, tomorrow…" she said nervously and then made an awkward motion while moving her arms up to hug him, and Squall smiled. He stepped into her embrace and reached his arms around her too, hugging her gently. Squall instantly felt the beating of her heart against his chest. He realized she was nervous, and it made him feel sad in that moment. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, that he wouldn't hurt her. He held her in place a moment longer, squeezing her tenderly. This was the moment he had been waiting for all day. Rinoa relaxed her body in his hold, realizing it was the most comfortable she had been all day long. She finally began to breathe normally. Being held by him was better than the time spent with her head resting on his shoulder. He smiled, glad that she had slowly lowered her guard around him little by little. "I really had a good time Squall, thank you…so much," she whispered finally.

"You're welcome, Rin," he muttered, squeezing her just a little more before letting go of her slowly. He hated to let her go at all, but he knew he would see her again really soon. He sighed briefly as she backed away and turned to her door. Rinoa put her keys in, unlocked it and opened her door slowly. She looked back at him with a smile, "Goodnight," the girl said softly.

"Goodnight Rinoa," he wanted to reach out his hand for her face, but stepped back instead as she stepped up through the door seal. She kept her eyes on him at first, and then placed her things down on the floor while scanning the premises for Angelo. Angelo must've been asleep inside because he was negligent in running to the door right away. When she looked behind her outside, Squall was looking out at the view, staring at the road that went out of town. Immediately she wondered what was on his mind, he had looked so distant. Then she heard Angelo rushing from her room and trotting out into the living room. The girl's eyes peered back into her apartment and found Angelo wagging his nubby tail. She smiled at the happy dog, but then decided to close the door before he could trot toward her.

"What are you looking at?" She asked Squall, stepping out onto the balcony again and folding her arms against the cold.

"Huh, oh," he was brought back to reality and faced her again, this time with a light smile, "Sorry, just daydreaming. I was waiting for you to go inside all the way and…well, I must've gotten lost in thought."

"You know, they say when you're daydreaming, it means your brain is overworked. …I wonder what could be giving your mind so much trouble," she tilted her head to the side moving her hands behind her back while rocking on her heels to and fro like a child pretending to be innocent.

"You got me," he shrugged his shoulders as his eyes connected with hers. He liked the way hers glistened against any light be it day or night. They were luminous and dreamy.

Suddenly in that waning second, his smile had disappeared. She looked so innocent and youthful, and yet so desirable. He was fascinated by the glimmer of her skin, even in the conflicting lights shining from both the balcony and the moon. The intrigue in her eyes and the grin from her cherry lips, it was all he could think about as he approached her slowly.

"Squall…?" His curious actions had stolen the smile away from her lips also. Before Rinoa could protest, he had extended his arms and enclosed on her. She was surprised to find his hands falling gently upon her hips and then rising up to her natural waistline. Her heart fluttered inside. Her body felt utterly weakened against his touch. From what he could tell of the little access he was currently permitted, was that her body had shaped out to be a perfect hourglass figure underneath the heavy sweater. He wondered why she always wore them. Each time he had visited the library, she wore things that added weight to her figure and took away from her personality.

Squall pressed his thumbs firmly into the cloth of her sweater. His hands remained strong, maintaining a durable grip amid her torso. He looked into her eyes deeply, assuring that she was still comfortable with his approach. He wanted her to be comfortable, not afraid. He wanted to ease her mind and calm her fluttering heart, not break it. Her soft brown eyes shimmered against the moonlight as she lifted her hands up to his chest slowly as if to explore him and not shun him away. Rinoa's left hand continued up to his neck, stopping as if too shy to progress, fingers too afraid to rake his hair dark, brown hair. Still, she left an open invitation for him through her eyes.

Squall interpreted her wordless expression as a way to continue. He fingered the line along her spine with his left hand, following it up to the nape of her neck first and then arrived at her right cheek where he thumbed her face softly. In all the time they had been standing there, his warm blue eyes had never left hers, never faltered but once, and that was only to study her lips. Squall moved in closely, closing his eyes and edging his mouth against her left cheek to feel the warmth of her skin against his. He rubbed cheeks with her briefly and then pushed his lips onto her skin, kissing the scarred tissue delicately. He felt her fingers pressing into his chest, digging down into him the moment his mouth had made contact with her face. She was merely surprised at how soft his lips felt against her, and in that short moment, had forgotten the scar was there at all. Rinoa closed her eyes as he continued to trace kisses along her cheek, and she leaned her head to the side as he continued. He spread his tender kisses apart until finally reaching her the warmness of her mouth where she responded softly.

Words could never explain the joy of feeling her body caressed and adored by him.

Squall parted with her mouth briefly, but lowered his hands down to her hips and pulled her into his waist gently. He kissed her mouth delicately again, raising his hands to her waistline and embracing her body together with his. Slowly he ended their kisses, but continued to hug her closely. He knew he would have to force himself to peel away from her soon; otherwise, he might have to spend a night with her, and then he would have to spend many nights with her after that. However, she was special. He wanted to take his time with her. He enjoyed her.

Rinoa rested her scarred cheek on his shoulder and opened her eyes. They swayed together slowly in a universe of their own.

"Rinoa," he whispered her name into the crisp, nightly air. "Is it okay if I see you more often?"

"…Yes, Squall," she answered him softly. For the first time in her life since the scar, her mind hadn't protested another's company, especially a man's. She was completely calm with him, her mind and body could agree that even her soul was at peace just as he was nearby. It was the first time in forever that she had felt normal, completely physically and mentally normal. It had been so long since the last time she had been intimate with anyone.

She had almost forgotten how to kiss and how to respond in intimate ways. She couldn't remember the last time someone had held her so closely, if she had ever been held this way before at all. The thought brought tears to her eyes, quiet tears that went unnoticed by him, but he continued to hold her until she was ready to let go. In the meantime, the girl took in the moment and allowed herself to enjoy every second of his company.

As Rinoa lay in her bed that night, she thought back about her past…about the scar on her face. Briefly she remembered the pain and the melting of her skin, even the smell of her burning flesh was etched into her memory. And it was then, as quickly as she recalled that moment in her life that it left her there like a fleeting whisper. The memory of her exciting day and even more so, the exciting kiss was enough to silence the dead ghosts of her past. Even if the time spent with Squall wouldn't last, she would enjoy every day that she was blessed with it to the fullest. With a smile across her lips, the young woman fell asleep, eagerly waiting to see him the next morning.

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_Author's Notes:_

* * *

_I'd like to thank everyone who's taking the time to read this story. It means a lot to me. I said that it's a progressive romance last time, but I should have mentioned it's not as slow as my other stories. It's not intended to be a dramatic story, because there will always be hints of humor sprinkled within, so feel free to laugh. There's some work that needs to be done on the next chapter and I'm starting to find myself getting busy with personal issues again. I'll focus my time on Eternal Breath and this story for a while since Fate,Wild isn't doing too well at the moment, lol. Now that I have my priorities, you can expect steady updates from both this story and EB (Eternal Breath)… _

_I really don't have much to say anymore, especially about the story. I appreciate support as it helps me to narrow down my tasks in what to work on and update next. So let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

_Take care of yourselves and I'll see you all again soon,_

_Ray~_


	4. Smiling on the Surface

_A/N: I apologize for the long delay. I am free of other distractions at the moment, so yay! Update! Also, Forgive me. I've been out of my writing practice... It's not the greatest, but my writing is still legible! I know, horrible attitude, right? I mean that in the most respectful way, though, so please, read and have fun, laugh or cry in good humor. I just want to know if you enjoyed/ or are enjoying this story. Please review, thanks! _

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_**Chapter 4: Smiling on the Surface**_

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The local news blared from Rinoa's television in her living room.

"_I have served my country as president for five glorious years, and I pray for many, many more," it was a nice and breezy day at Deling City's memorial hall where President Martine gave his speech in honor of the late President Vincer Deling today. We remember the former president on this day as it is the anniversary of his assassination—_" the sound of someone knocking at the door immediately overshadowed the voice from the tv. Rinoa emerged from her bedroom, triggering the device off as she bypassed it amid her journey to answer the door.

"Good morning," Squall said with a gentle smile as she opened the door for him, Rinoa grinned and waved with a warm smile of her own. He was dressed comfortably in a loose gray t-shirt and black jogging pants over generic black walking boots. Rinoa quickly noticed that he had seemed out of breath.

"You look all warmed up," she answered gingerly, commenting on his unusually reddened cheeks.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the steps I took getting up here. They're really steep," he looked down at his legs and his boots. "If you're not careful, that could be a bad fall," Rinoa nodded her head in agreement and invited him inside. Angelo wagged his nubby tail and jumped up at Squall, making the brunet laugh. Squall greeted the dog with a pat on the head, "Hey, buddy. You missed me?"

Rinoa grinned and readjusted her clothing. She had settled on wearing comfortably fitting pink sweat pants and a matching zipper sweater with a maroon spaghetti strap shirt below. It wasn't as chilly in the morning as it had been at night and her sweater would be more than enough to deflect the cold air. She could always zip it up for comfort.

Even as she stood there reviewing her attire, Angelo continued to greet Squall by sniffing around him. "Squall," she regretted to break up his moment of playtime with the canine for now, "do you want some coffee, it's fresh," the girl asked while heading over to her kitchen counter and pouring herself a mug.

"Yeah, thanks," Angelo was tugging at his jogging pants leg now and Squall accepted his invitation to play. When Rinoa realized the two males were now in a scuffle, she laughed and placed Squall's coffee on the counter where he could reach it.

"I've got creamer and sugar over here. You can use this sink to wash your hands if you want."

"Alright thanks," he muffled while shoving the dog's mouth away and standing up quickly to end their playful bout. Angelo started to trout behind him, but Squall gave him the pretend evil eyes causing Angelo to bark aloud in defeat. Squall laughed softly. All the while, Rinoa shook her head at their silliness.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you. You know, you're the first guy he hasn't tried to attack," Rinoa snickered, it was horrible to admit Angelo's tactics aloud, but she gave Squall his browning points where they were due. "He usually doesn't let any man approach me, except my father."

"That's because he knows who's boss now," Squall grinned, "I mean that respectfully."

The girl shook her head as her grin widened, "Yeah, I know."

After breaking away from Angelo's challenge, Squall finally made his way into the kitchen and washed his hands in the sink. He tore a napkin from the dispenser to dry his hands afterwards. Rinoa was in the midst of pouring creamer into her coffee when she felt his hands around her waist. "Squall," the girl chortled and turned around in his arms, "I'm…I'm still getting used to all this."

"Sorry," he smiled. "Couldn't resist…"

She stared into his peaceful eyes as he leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. He pulled away slowly and turned around to face his coffee mug on the counter.

Squall added two teaspoons of sugar in his black coffee and gave it a little stir, then pulled the warm mug to his face and sipped at it slowly. Rinoa added a few teaspoons of sugar and stirred hers until it developed an evenly brown coat, and then she started to drink. Angelo sat in the middle of the floor watching the quiet couple for a moment, and then released an impatient sigh. Squall lowered his mug slowly to place it onto the counter with a light thud, "What are _you_ sighing about? You know today's all about you, right? Give us a chance to get ready," he teased the dog, only to have Angelo muffle a sarcastic grunt behind a closed trap.

"I think he knows we're all going out," Rinoa answered. "He's been like that all morning. He can be so impatient sometimes…"

"I guess it's true what they say then."

"What's that?"

"Dogs or pets in general, are a lot like children…especially dogs. They get anxious, too."

"You're right about that," Rinoa nodded and stared down at Angelo who seemed to narrow his eyes at Squall. The dog barked twice and sent them laughing aloud.

The three eventually left Rinoa's apartment and headed to the public city park that was located on the outskirts of town so that Angelo could run free. Unlike the central park in the heart of Deling City, there was a free range of endless green fields and occasional trees occupying the premises. It was perfect for walking a hyperactive dog such as Angelo. Squall took the leash from Rinoa and guided Angelo to a desirable area while Rinoa searched through her bag for a certain toy.

It was a nice and windy day, still a little chilly, but nothing that Angelo or any of them couldn't handle. The dog waited eagerly for the frisbee toss and knew almost instantly when Rinoa reached down into the bag that that was what Rinoa had been searching for. Squall was amazed at how fast the dog took charge once he released him from his leech into the wide open field of green. He went after Rinoa almost immediately as she tossed the Frisbee through the air.

The circular device soared in the wind a great distance before Angelo leapt up from the ground and sunk his teeth down into it, fetching it like a professionally trained dog.

"Wow," Squall gawked, placing his hands on his waist and watching her incredible pet.

"Yeah, he's gotten a lot better at it now. Once he figured out how the game went, he was hooked," she laughed. "Here Squall, now you try," she said, handing him the Frisbee. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever thrown a Frisbee. It wasn't to a dog either. He would go to the park with his family as a kid and his dad would play all sorts of games in one sitting. It was a nice time away with them. Some days, he never thought of such memories while other days he wished things could go back to his boyhood.

When the Frisbee was flung through the air, Angelo immediately took charge and jumped up high to catch it between his teeth.

"He's incredible," Squall exclaimed, and was drawn to do it a few more times before Rinoa called Angelo back in for some water which she poured from a spare water bottle and into a bowl. She had been carrying the baby blue doggy bag all along. It seemed to be filled with everything Angelo would find useful.

A crystal blue pond met them at the end of the field. Glistening amid the sunlight, it beckoned them closer. Rinoa paced toward it, smiling gingerly like a little girl with an eager Squall following closely behind. Seeking shelter from the chilly wind, they took a seat at its edge in the warm sun. Angelo ran to the water and jumped in with a feral splash. He then traversed to the rippled pond's center where the lilies grew undisturbed. At that moment Rinoa was glad they had taken her car instead of Squall's. Since she was used to riding with Angelo most of the time, she knew how messy he could be. That also meant that it didn't matter if his fur got a little soggy, she didn't have to worry about him damaging anybody's seats but her own, though her little green sedan had seen much worse than a few doggy hairs in all her short years of owning it.

She had then begun to think about the mystery messes in the backseat of the car.

Squall, grabbing a seat beside her, unknowingly put an abrupt end to her brief reminiscing, though her eyes remained focused on the glistening water in a captivating daydream. Rinoa absentmindedly leaned onto his chest to assure a comfortable state of being until her mind caught up with the rest of her movements. He grinned at her casual behavior and then lowered his cheek down onto her hair soothingly, accommodatingly.

They remained in place for a short while, united in the humid sunbeam. Squall eventually fell backwards onto his palms, amused by Angelo's engaging endless game of bite the water lily among other things.

"This place is nice. It's pretty deserted though," he complimented, his voice booming from below Rinoa. "It reminds me of a park back home."

"Yeah, I'm glad this park is here. It's always a nice getaway, you know? I hope it stays like this," she whispered and then took a deep breath to continue. "I'd hate to see this park turned into another golf resort or something. No matter how many years go by, I wanna always count on it being here and unchanged. That's what makes it feel like home."

"I know what you mean," Squall whispered, staring ahead at the windy waterfront before them. "And you're right… Every chance they get, Deling city seems to keep turning the open land into golf courses."

Rinoa groaned into his chest. "It's people like my dad who keep those places open for business," she huffed almost silently. Squall had only heard half her words. "…So," she pushed for a mild subject change. "Where _is_ 'home?"

"Winhill," he answered swiftly. "It's not a very popular—"

"Hey, I know where that place is!" Rinoa interjected, rising from his chest excitedly. "…But uhh, I've never been there before," she scratched the back of her head, suddenly embarrassed by her own outburst, and faced him with a silly smirk.

Squall chuckled and shook his head. "I'm impressed that you even know of its existence, though I expected that you'd never visited. I only know of a handful of people who've ever been there before."

"Wow, it _must _be tiny! Why isn't it popular, you think?" She relaxed her shoulders and body somewhat against his again.

"Maybe because there's nothing to do there," he shrugged his shoulders. "It's mostly quiet…and peaceful…just like this park."

Rinoa smiled and tried to imagine him as a kid, barefoot and running through an open field similar to where they were sitting now. She imagined a warm summer breeze where flower pedals glided in the wind. The sunlight twinkled on little dew drops that dangled at the leaves and stems of trees and plants alike. She wondered if they would go there together one day, hand in hand in the warm sun. Her pale face glistened in the sunlight as Squall ran his hand against her _smooth_ left cheek.

Eagerly, Rinoa touched her face in hopes of finding it healed and back to normal, only to feel the course, dead skin of her scar greeting her fingertips. Once in a while this would happen. She would find herself dreaming of a face free of the scar, a transient daydream that always ended horribly. With such a cruel imagination at hand, Rinoa felt it time to awake from her daydream and traverse back into reality.

_Winhill…_ She sighed within while having a sarcastic feeling descending into her thoughts,_ it sounds __**so **__romantic… But…I don't think…I don't think I'll ever get to have a moment like that in this life. Not anymore… Not like this._

Lowering her hand, Rinoa gathered her breath and let her eyes rest on the glimmering zipper of his windbreaker.

"Squall…?" Rinoa whispered hoarsely. He finally faced her and locked contact with her innocent orbs as she continued her inquiring, "…What made you ask me out? Or…why did you?"

The young man smiled delightfully. "Frankly, I had finally gotten tired of just not saying anything to you. It seemed like you never noticed me anyway." Rinoa was surprised to hear him chuckling softly.

Rinoa couldn't help the way her eyebrows shot upward because of his answer. After a moment, she relaxed them back into place. "Honestly, I didn't notice you," she stated with a grin, causing him to feign hurt until a true smile returned to his face. "The first time I saw you— you ended up asking me about the magazines! I was surprised."

"Surprised? …Why?"

"Well…" she rubbed her fingers between the blades of grass on the ground beneath her hand. It felt cold against her skin. "…It's not hard to see why I don't get approached very often, and then…to be approached by someone like _you.._."

"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't be so modest, Squall," she giggled, ripping up a few strands of grass and turning around to toss them on his shirt. He laughed and watched her as she continued to open up. "But, you're really nice looking, and I'm…I never thought this could happen to me. It doesn't seem real to me… Sorry to sound so…_joyful…_"

"Rinoa," he muttered, sitting up even with her finally. She faced him slowly with a fragile closed smile. Squall paused to swallow his breath before continuing. "You need to know something. …I waited until the right time to talk to you because I was scared to death of hearing you say no. I knew what I wanted, but I didn't want to screw up my chances with you. That's why I took my time asking you out."

He placed his right hand on her left cheek, "Then one day I realized all the time I had been wasting being too afraid to approach you, so I decided to just get it over with…to get your answer: yes or no…and here we are now."

She chuckled and looked at the grass for a few seconds, and then returned to his face. "I appreciate that," she whispered while nodding her head softly. She was thankful for his answer, thankful for his honesty and gentleness. It was too good to be true.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered while lowering his hand. His words caused Rinoa to freeze immediately. Maybe it was all too good to be true because…maybe it wasn't true.

"Please don't lie to me," she frowned and turned away from him, breaking his hands away from her. "I can be pretty, sure, but I'm not beautiful."

"You're serious," Squall scoffed, scooting closer to her, "What makes you think that I'm lying about what you look like to me?"

Rinoa slid away from him again, and faced him, pointing to her face. "Don't you see my face? Everybody else does," she sighed, lowering her hand and looking down into the grass. "Thank you for taking me out and being nice to me, but I'm not the vulnerable type. I'm not gonna buy into all your 'beautiful' talk…ok?"

"The vulnerable type…?" He scratched his forehead. "Wait, I don't understand. What does my acknowledging not just your looks, but everything about you have to do with you being vulnerable or whatever? You're basically telling me that I can't say that you're beautiful without a reason?" Suddenly it dawned on him that she seemed quite reserved even as he had asked her out, the bitterness in her voice suggested that she may have fallen victim to some womanizer before. "Sex…? ….You think that's all that I want from you."

She shied away from him immediately, repulsed by the word and a little about her unintentional accusations.

"Rinoa, listen to me, that's not what I want. I told you that before," he touched her shoulder.

"Yeah, right. A man who doesn't want to…" she laughed bitterly, confused at her own mixed emotions about the subject.

"Fine, it's not _all _I want, but saying that out loud makes me sound like some kind of barbarian..." the brunet folded his arms and turned away from her. Rinoa shook her head with a wide grin. She was unable to fight against the smile, finding his reaction to her hideous thoughts somewhat adorable.

"Look okay. I may have overreacted," Rinoa threw her hands up defense. "Please don't take it the wrong way. I'm not saying it's you that I'm uncomfortable with… I'm having a great time, but I'm a little confused about what you want from me. Honestly, I'm not used to any of this relationship stuff anymore…and I don't know what to do. I don't think I can handle a relationship like this or whatever it is we're doing together. You seem like a really nice guy and I'm sorry if what I said offended you, but I'm not comfortable with the closeness… I haven't…"

He allowed her to continue to speak, but Rinoa's words seemed to drift away before reaching its conclusion. If anything, Squall was glad that she had even spoken up about her feelings. He hadn't had many relationships of his own, but it was truly refreshing to find someone who could openly share her thoughts and fears without too much reservation. It seemed he had made great progress on the trust issue with her whether she realized it or not.

She suffered patterns of abuse, her response told him that much. It made him angry and powerless at once.

"Can I ask you something really personal?" Squall muttered against the chill of the wind, finally facing her again.

Rinoa took a deep breath and nodded her head softly. She was uncertain of his question, unsure of her answer.

"Did someone hurt you…?" He asked quickly, concerned about her mental health.

"What…?" Rinoa's eyes widened.

"Has someone hurt you in the past?"

"NO! No, it's nothing like that! It's just…WH-what I meant was— I haven't been in a situation like this in a long time and I think it's too much for me. I'm still dealing with a lot of things! I'm not used to the intimacy anymore. I don't want anybody to…Oh my god," Her eyes released tears so suddenly that his expression changed. He was shocked. Squall reached for her hand and held it tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm… I don't know what's wrong with me…"

"Rin," He continued to hold her hand. "Last night I was under the impression that it was okay to kiss you and so I did, and I thought you enjoyed it, too, but if I'm moving too quickly for you, we can slow down if you want. I need you to tell me that in your own voice."

"No, Squall, our dates are nice. It's really great," she smiled, wiping her eyes but the frown returned prematurely, "I'm having a wonderful time, but I have very confusing and difficult emotions to sort through. I don't think I can keep seeing you with all these horrible thoughts about myself and I don't know how to be in a relationship every day. I'm not used to this sort of thing. I get scared easily. Most of all, I'm scared that I'll run you away for good because of the way I am."

"Don't worry about me," Squall smirked. "I don't scare easily."

She sniffled again, closing her eyes and rocking to herself. Squall took notice to her self-comforting behavior and slanted his eyebrows.

"…Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I'm fine. I'll be fine. I just don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Ok, I understand. I'm sorry for asking you that…" He took a deep breath and sat in a silence while Rinoa stayed locked inside her self embrace. He hated using silence to fight off a problem, and could attest for years of mental abuse because of it. He refused to let her continue inside the maze of confusion for long. He wanted her to know that he would be here from now on, giving her the support she needed. "If you don't want to tell _me_, that's fine, but you need to tell somebody close to you, okay?"

"I can't do that."

"Rinoa, why not? Keeping everything bottled up isn't healthy. If someone hurt you, then you should've reported them right away."

"I couldn't," she broke down in tears. "I was stupid. I made a stupid decision…"

"What happened?" He edged her on. "Does it have to do with your scar?"

She shook her head 'no.'

"Okay then. …You don't have to tell me about it, but just listen to me," he took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. "I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sure whatever it is is still no reason to call yourself stupid. You're not stupid. If someone took advantage of you, which I'm sure, then that person is an asshole and I hope he rots in hell. I told you before, that's not the kind of guy I am. I _hate_ people like that." Squall sighed softly, as if easing his temper down a notch.

Rinoa looked up toward Angelo to find him drinking pond water and then exploring the rest of the grass area alone.

Squall continued, "Rinoa, I really don't want to see you upset, but sometimes it's better to be honest with yourself and face those fears head on than to push them aside and not deal with them at all. You'll end up beating yourself up in the end… Seriously, who gives a damn if you made a mistake? Everyone makes mistakes. If not for mistakes, how else can you learn and get anywhere in life? One mistake, or even multiple ones, doesn't make you, or me, stupid."

"I'm going to make sure I never hear you say that about yourself again," he whispered and then moved his hand to her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes, "If that's fine with you…."

Rinoa's watery eyes shifted toward him again where he spotted a faint, closed grin upon her face.

The tears at her eyes finally eased. Squall smirked and lowered his hand from her face to slip it together with hers, "When I first saw you at the library, you were reading to a few of the little kids and making them laugh. I don't even know what was so funny, but once you laughed with the kids, I was able to see your true smile. It was a brief moment, but that image has stuck with me since. Every time I came back in town, I found reasons to stop by the library just to see you again. Some days you weren't there, but most days you were. I don't think you realize it, but you smile a lot, even if it's just a tiny grin. Even when you're approached by difficult people, you help them to the best of your ability and then you send them on their way with a smile. I don't want you to associate me with whatever happened in your past. I have no intention of hurting you, Rinoa, and it'd be great if you can see yourself the way I see you. You are beautiful, and I don't mean just your looks. I meant the more I learn about you, the more I find what an incredibly amazing woman you are. As far as I'm concerned, you're more than a smart and sexy librarian."

"Sexy?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't be so modest, Rinoa, I know you're aware of your own body," he teased, and she finally showed him an opened grin. "Finally," he said, lifting his hand to touch her face again, "There's just so much I want to know about you. I don't ever want to give you the impression that you'd run me away by being honest with me. What we do next is totally up to you. I'm in no rush. Of course, it's only natural that I'd like to make love to you someday, but I can wait for that."

"M-make love?" Rinoa gulped with feverishly reddened cheeks.

"Yeah," he smiled. "But I don't want to scare you away by saying things like that since this _is_ only our second physical date, so I won't mention it again. With that being said, it's time for some light conversation. Didn't mean to get so deep into that…"

She laughed and broke her hands away from his to slap his arm playfully, "it's okay," Rinoa murmured. "I'm getting to know you better when you talk a lot, so I don't mind." Squall displayed a thankful grin. "And actually… You were right. I _did_ enjoy that kiss last night." Her eyes coffee colored eyes twinkled with reflections from the pond water and softened in the warm light. "We don't have to take it _too_ slowly. I still like being held," she grinned bashfully and was glad to see Squall relaxing a bit more now as well. He seemed relieved about her decision.

Squall wasted no time in gathering her in his arms and embracing her closely, intimately.

A sharp bark from Angelo sent the girl breaking out of Squall's arms snapping her head around to see the dog.

When Rinoa found Angelo, she could do nothing but laugh. Squall followed her eyes to see what she had been looking at and saw it too. Angelo was on his back rolling from side to side in the grass, kicking his hind legs into the air repeatedly. "What the hell…" Squall grinned. It was simply the funniest thing they both had seen all day. Squall and Rinoa both had a good laugh at her dog before rounding him up and heading back to her emerald city car.

During the drive back, the car radio mysteriously picked up an oldies station and played songs that had once been great hits when they were kids. They went back and forth making horrible impersonations of the singers while Angelo stuck his head out of back the window, tongue against the wind, despite the chilliness in the air.

* * *

Upon their return to Rinoa's home, Squall helped her by grabbing her doggy bag from the backseat and letting Angelo out from the car. He shut the door behind Angelo and handed Rinoa the bag of Angelo's goodies. The girl gave him a gratifying smile.

"You can hang out with us for a little while longer if you want to. I'm making dinner pretty soon, and we'd love it if you can join us," Rinoa motioned her hand to Angelo and herself.

"Thanks, I'd love to," he answered amicably. "But listen…why don't you go on ahead? I need to grab a few things from my car first."

"Okay, see you in a little while," she waved and headed across the small parking lot beneath the shade of the building's silhouette which covered most of the ground. It was chillier beneath the shade so much that Rinoa had to fold her arms to battle the cold air while following the hyperactive canine up the staircase to her apartment.

Squall watched the two moving up with brisk pace and smiled peaceably, and then turned his attention to the likings of the contents inside his car.

Upstairs, Rinoa opened her door with Angelo slipping through the half opened crack. He was eager to greet the familiar scent that had been oozing from the door seal coming from inside her apartment.

"There you are!" A voice emerged from the kitchen area.

Angelo barked cheerfully at the two visitors, who were her casually dressed parents, already lodging comfortably in her living room and kitchen, and watching TV. Rinoa's smile was usurped by a look of a dread. She hadn't exactly imagined seeing them on a day like today, especially when her date was only a couple of flights of stairs away.

"Mom, dad, h-hi," She spoke softly, receiving an ecstatic wave from her mother and a muffled hello from her father. Julia stepped out of Rinoa's little kitchen and approached the girl in the doorway, closing the door behind her first.

Her parents were well known, mostly because of the political office her father had held in the past. Because of his ranking, Julia always seemed to upkeep her wardrobe in classical and modern themes compared to her passive husband, Richard who now slouched in comfortable slacks and a white button down shirt on Rinoa's sofa. He only seemed to dress astonishingly well for an occasional political speech, televised broadcasting, or cocktail parties. He finally shut off the TV and stood from the sofa to greet her Rinoa who still remained at the door.

"Where are you coming in from?" Julia asked, giving her a quick hug and touching her face gently, but Rinoa tried to shrug her away. She had a knack for touching Rinoa's face as though the girl was still a child fresh from the infirmary. She knew the role of a mother's natural concern, but sometimes the girl wished she could shut it off.

"I was out with a friend and Angelo," she announced. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Which friend? I thought everyone was out of the city for now," he eyed her suspiciously.

"A new friend, dad," Rinoa fanned him away. "What brings you two here?"

"Does this new friend of yours have a name?" Richard asked, waiting for her answer. "First and last name preferably."

"Mom!"

"Richard," Julia sighed, hoping he would take the hint and back off a bit. "Anyway dear, how are you doing? We've been worried sick about you." Julia said, taking the girl to the side and away from Richard.

He shrugged his shoulders and then walked to the sofa again, taking a seat and turning the television back on.

"Well, it's like I said," The girl walked toward the kitchen counter to place her bag on its surface. "I was out with a friend. Were you two just passing through?"

"Actually, we wanted to tell you in person," Julia began, touching Rinoa's shoulder. "We'll be going away for a few months to help with the upcoming presidential address to Galbadia _and_ the world. We've been really busy lately and it's about to get a lot worse, so don't panic if we can't call you right away. We just want you to be careful, especially now with us leaving Deling for some time. Are you okay with that, Rinoa? You're welcome to come with us if you'd like. We'd love it if you can help us out again."

Rinoa slapped her forehead, "No, but I'll be fine, mom! I'm not a child," she scoffed. The girl was more excited to learn that her suffocating parents would be leaving the city for a long time than about the presidential meeting and their involvement with it. "I wish I could help out, but I've got my job and a new friend. So you guys have fun!"

"Rinoa, how long have you known him…? This friend of yours…" Julia eased her way back into their earlier conversation.

"My friend…? His name is Squall," she answered softly. "Well, I've been dating him for a while now," She lied, sure they had spoken on the phone for a while, but they had only just begun to date. She had just wanted them to feel better knowing that she knew how to pick her mates now.

"I hope that you continue to be careful while we're away."

"Of course I will. He's really nice and fun, too."

"Fun?!" What if something happens to you while we're away? What would we do then? You know some of those boys aren't as nice and fun as they claim to be," It was the same old guilt trip story Rinoa had always heard. It was no wonder she never expected to meet anyone new. She was already programmed into thinking that everyone was out to get her.

"Mom, would you please stop overreacting!" the girl spoke up finally. "I'm an adult, and I'm more than capable of taking care of myself now. I really like this guy and Angelo likes him, too. If Angelo likes him, then that says a lot."

"You're gonna trust that goofy dog's taste?" Richard questioned her, receiving a blank stare from Angelo.

"Angelo doesn't like everyone, but he loves Squall. Squall's my friend, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"Well, it looks like your mind's made up…" Julia mumbled while folding her arms. "I just hope this one isn't trouble…"

"What is it with you mom, everyone's trouble!"

"Are you raising your voice at me?"

"No! Why do you two always pop over here uninvited anyway?! Are you purposely trying to stop me from living my life let alone having a romantic life? I'm okay! I'm doing fine now! You should've called my phone if you wanted to check up on me, _that's why_ I have a phone."

"We tried your phone several times today and several times yesterday, you never picked up once," Julia had then placed her hands on her hips.

"I was _gone_, but had I known that you called if you'd left a _message_, then I would've called you back and told you that I'm fine. Please stop popping over here unannounced like this. This is _my_ apartment."

"Don't you backtalk me, young lady, I'm still your mother no matter how old you get. Your father has been helping you pay your rent to keep this apartment and we have a key. That means we can pop up here anytime we want and you can't complain at all."

"You know what…I'm getting in the shower, and then I'm going to bed. Do what you want."

Rinoa left the room and walked into her bedroom, then shut that door. She locked her bedroom door and went into the bathroom to run water into the tub. She didn't actually plug the tub, but rather let the water run to perhaps make them think she was using the shower. Rinoa trotted lightly to her bedroom door and placed her onto its surface to hear what might have been happening inside the living room. At first she heard their voices mumbling some things, and then the television was shut off, and finally, she heard the sound of their keys rattling. The front door was eventually closed and locked. Her parents had left for good.

Rinoa went back into the restroom and shut off the running water, and then returned out into her living room. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. "Oh great, they've returned for seconds, Angelo."

She walked to the door and yelled, "Yes?"

"It's me," It was Squall's voice. Rinoa smiled. She had completely forgotten that Squall said he'd join them for dinner. Rinoa unlocked the door and opened it eagerly.

"Hey," she said, glad to see him now more than ever. She stepped aside so he could enter into her apartment. Squall grinned and eyed her strangely.

"Are you okay?" he asked before entering.

"No," Rinoa said while closing the door behind him, "my parents have serious issues. You just missed them, and I'm glad."

"They can't be all _that _bad," he laughed.

"No, they _are_," she frowned. "They're extremely over protective and I don't understand why. It's weird because when we're around friends, they're two totally different people. They won't check up on me more than two times, but like just now, it was an interrogation and all because I didn't answer my phone. Are your parents like that?"

"If you mean, crazy, then yes, but not in an overprotective sense. My mother died when I was twelve, but I remember her crazy sense of humor."

"I'm sorry," Rinoa lifted her hands over her mouth. "I didn't know…"

"Of course you didn't know. How could you, right? Don't worry about it, Rinoa."

"Squall…I really…"

"No, it's okay. I don't mind talking about her," he shook his head. "I know she's in a better place, so I'm fine. But… my father is quite unreserved. Regardless of his audience, he will be himself. I'm not nearly as relaxed as he is."

"Wish I could say the same for my dad," Rinoa sighed. "He doesn't say much, especially lately. To be honest, I never know what he's thinking. He's actually a little scary,' Rinoa shrugged off her goose bumps. "Anyway, I guess you're hungry after all that running around with Angelo."

"Yeah," Squall rested a hand on his stomach only to hear it growl a bit. "Sounds like I am…Speaking of which, what _are_ you making?"

"Grilled chicken breast, cheesy spaghetti, and broccoli," she smiled.

"Sounds good," his stomach growled ferociously, Rinoa heard it too and laughed quite unreservedly before him.

* * *

After a warm and filling dinner, and an enjoyable discussion about the events of the night before, the couple washed up and began to wind down for the night.

They decided to watch television for a little while, at least to digest the food that Rinoa put her heart into making. Together they snuggled on the sofa. Squall rested his head on the arm of the sofa, laying down halfway so that Rinoa could easily relax against him with the back of her head on his chest. There were multiple shows on TV tonight, and occasionally parts of comedy movies that they had both enjoyed, but they never watched anything fully. He didn't want to find and watch one show because he knew that as soon as it was over, he would have to leave. Still, it would do nothing to halt the passing time. Rinoa and Squall both were having a great time. She didn't want to see him leave soon either.

Rinoa knew she couldn't keep him there all night, but she didn't mind having him over for so long. He was the best company she could ever ask for. She couldn't even recognize herself anymore. It had been a long and wonderful weekend. It was exactly what she needed. She had finally invited someone into her personal oasis, and nothing horrible occurred.

The channel finally stopped on a local news station midway through its current story, _"The president is looking forward to this world meeting. The last meeting occurred only five years ago before the death of our former president Vincer Deling. Even with the world meeting scheduled less than a year away, President Martine is in high hopes about being able to address the leaders of Esthar, Trabia, and Centra, all of whom have been in silence since Galbadia's tragic loss. It is still uncertain what the president plans to address—"_ Squall flipped the station with a sigh.

"I'm going to be really busy this week," he said suddenly "but I'll try to talk to you when I can, okay?"

"Oh, okay." Rinoa answered hoarsely, "…Your job, right?"

"Yeah," he thought about the long week ahead briefly, and then pushed his mind to better things. "Well, you've got plenty to do this week too, don't you?"

"Plenty of little things and then there's Angelo," she chuckled softly. Rinoa was surprised to feel his warm hand grabbing hers and squeezing it within his grasp.

"That's way better than having the sound of a steam engine buzzing in your ear all day," he sighed, rubbing his fingers along her arm. Rinoa's senses immediately fluttered at his touch.

"Poor thing," the girl whispered first and took a soft breath. Then Squall rose up slowly from behind her to sit up straight. Rinoa was forced to rise as he had. She then looked back at him with concern, "Leaving?"

"I'll have to in a little while. Unless you want me to go right now," he muttered, sliding his hand down her arm and into hers.

"No, in a little while is fine." Rinoa looked down at their joined hands, and moved her left hand atop them, squeezing his hand more.

"Then I won't, not until you say so," He leaned forward and kissed her cheek softly. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, Squall," she whispered inaudibly as he brought his left hand to her shoulder and rubbed her forearm. "It's fine," Rinoa muttered softly, moments before her mouth had been covered by his. Their eyes closed together as he stopped and pulled away from her face slowly with a smile.

"Are you feeling okay?" He had asked, squeezing her forearm in his grasp. Rinoa could only nod her head. He remembered their earlier conversation and decided to keep his yearnings to a minimal for now. As he sat back on the couch, he pulled her back with him and they stayed there together that way, comfortably.

It was later when Rinoa realized he was lifting her from the sofa, and bringing her to her room because she'd fallen asleep too soon. She opened her eyes when he had laid her across the bed and pulled the covers up over her body. She smiled and took a soft breath first, then bundled the comforter over her arms. When Squall realized she was awake, he grinned and moved close to her face.

"Thanks," she whispered. "You didn't have to…"

"You're welcome," he muttered, touching her face and leaning in to kiss her right cheek softly. "I wanted to. Goodnight, Rinoa."

"Goodnight Squall."

"I'll call you sometime this week, okay?"

"Okay," she yawned, "I'm so sorry about this."

"It's fine. I'm sure if we were at my place, I'd probably be right where you are now, if not, worse" his words caused her to laugh. "So don't worry about it, I'm going to crash when I get home, too."

"Yeah, get some good shut eye then."

"I'll try," he lingered over her a moment, and then brought his lips down even with hers, then placed a warm and tender kiss upon her lips. "I'll see you around," he whispered, standing from her bed and leaving the room as she turned over and bundled up to tough out the cool night alone. Angelo, awakened by their intrusion, got up quickly and followed him out.

"_Even smaller nations like Balamb are hoping for a chance to speak with the leaders across the globe."_

Squall turned off the television and the lights around her apartment with Angelo tagging along with him every step of the way. When he was near the front door, after having grabbed his keys, he turned around to Angelo and smiled, "Hey tough guy, keep taking care of her, okay? I'll see you in a few days."

The brunet knelt down and rubbed Angelo's fur roughly, and then rose to his feet slowly. "Later," he muttered and then locked the door from the inside, closed it, and finally left from her breezeway with a sigh.

He hoped to finish his work quickly so he would be able to see both of them again, but there was no time to ponder such things. For now, it was off to work.

"Sounds like a very romantic weekend you had, Rinoa," Edea smiled, happy that the girl finally had a story to share.

"Yeah, but I can't believe it happened. You were right, Edea, he's such a nice guy. I'm glad you gave me his note that day," the girl gushed.

"Me too, Rinoa," Edea sighed in bliss. Rinoa was glowing and finally smiling at people with a true smile, and not an employee's smile. She was glad that she had had something to do with that. Rinoa brought her eyes to the floor momentarily, as if in thought about something. "What is it dear?"

"He has to work all this week, and he'll be really busy, but he's going to try to call sometime soon. I guess I'm glad that he's going to call, but I…I'd still like to see him again, too, you know?" She placed her elbow down onto the counter.

"I can understand that, but eventually, you will."

"I know. A man has to have his priorities," she sighed, resting her face into the palm of her hand while leaning onto her elbow.

"The way you've described him, I'm sure you're pretty high on his priority list."

"I don't know," Rinoa looked over at Edea quickly, "This is all new to me."

"I remember when I first started to feel that way about my husband," Edea smiled. "We've changed together over the years, but his eyes are still the same, and his heart is still the same. I knew it back then and I know it now, I could never feel for anyone else the way I feel about him. Your relationship is new, but this sounds like something for you Rinoa. You should definitely enjoy it, because not everyone gets to experience what came to you."

The girl stood up erectly. "Thank you Edea," Rinoa smiled.

"You're very welcome," the woman grinned and was interrupted by a customer. Rinoa automatically returned to her duties throughout the library.

* * *

_**Later that week...**_

He sped up along the highway on a motorcycle as dark as coal, heavily guarded and heavily equipped. At this speed, even if the cops caught him on their radars, going after him would be dangerous and pointless. Suddenly, the mobile device attached to his helmet began to ring. With the click of a trigger on handle of the motorbike, the connection was made, "Squall."

"_Are you moving in together yet?" _A male's voice responded.

"…" The brunet grumbled beneath his helmet, speeding past another vehicle on the open highway.

"_C'mon man, we know where you were."_

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"_Just teasing, but seriously, everything's ready. We're waiting on you."_

"I'm on my way," He answered.

"_Hey, Squall?"_

"Yes?"

"_Can I be your best man?"_

"Drop it, Seifer."

"_Is she cute?"_

"…"

"_Yeah, she must be cute."_ Seifer heard Squall groaning as he continued, "_Yeah, yeah, you don't talk about your personal life at work."_

"If that's all…"

"_That's all, stay in touch."_

"Yeah, later," Squall said as he closed out the conversation and made the engine of his motorcycle cook up fiercely. He had steeled himself for this unordinary task, having trained himself to push his personal thoughts aside while on duty; however, her smile was all he could think of as he sped along the highway riding a dangerous wind.

* * *

_Author's Little Drabble:_

* * *

_The last conversation Squall has seems vaguely familiar to me. I don't know if I've read it elsewhere, but I apologize if it seems similar to another story. It's purely coincidental, I promise!_

_Hey, guys. I'm sorry about the long delay. I won't even make excuses—but what can I say? Man-life gets to you and it's getting increasingly difficult to keep steady updates because of it. This is what happened before with my other stories. The thing about this story is, I have already written out skeleton chapters beforehand. The only thing I need to do is go over them and add to them, making sure that my plot is free of bugs. I had to sort through something, but now it's worked out. So I'll be writing/or adding to the next group of chapters and then uploading them as I finish them. I know it's terribly frustrating to wait for an update, but sometimes I can't update at all. I'll try to dedicate more time to my artwork both here and my fan art of FFVIII. I'm becoming more consumed with drawing as of late, and it really eats up my time. I'm still learning to balance working, having a relationship, making time for family and friends, and drawing and writing. Sometimes I feel that it's true, a woman's job is never done… You'll notice I'll be speeding things along in the next chapter, though I want their relationship to move at a natural pace. This chapter is the beginning mark of things to change and things to come. _

_Okay, be back later with another update. Thanks for reading and please review! I apologize for the awkward progression of this chapter. There was no way to split it! On the other hand, a nice long chapter is a great way to return, I suppose. Sometimes I feel as though my attention span is getting shorter when it comes to writing fanfiction. Maybe that's why my typo count is off the charts. I also had a horrible mistake posted earlier, but I've erased it. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading and take care!_

_StardustRay_


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